Amid Failed Promises of Reform, US Companies Leave China

Author and director Peter Navarro comments on America's dysfunctional relation with China

Security guard personnel stand guard as people line up to complain or seek help with customer service outside a Best Buy outlet store in Shanghai on Feb. 25, 2011. AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

Failed dreams and broken promises are all that remain of the hope that led the United States to open free trade with China in 2001.

President Bill Clinton had told a crowded room a year prior that “if you believe in a future of greater openness and freedom for the people of China, you ought to be for this agreement.” The decision had bipartisan support, and leaders in the United States shared the belief that with the fall of the Soviet Union trade with China would help it move to democracy and freedom.

They reap all the benefits of international organization, but they don't abide by the rules.

— Peter Navarro