LH tries to lecture American voters

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...o/2656340.html

ON US ELECTIONS AND THE ROLE OF THE UNITED STATES

The anger among the American public over trade has been projected onto the US presidential candidates in the hope that whoever becomes the president will fight for them, Mr Lee said.

Adding to that is the Occupy Wall Street protests, which had a psychological impact and crystallised the sense among a “significant chunk of the population” that the current economic system is not legitimate, he said.

“I think that it significantly diminished the credibility of your status quo, which is a pity, because actually, you have benefited from globalisation.

“There are downsides, there are adjustment problems, you will have Michigan and Detroit and difficult places like that, but overall, America has benefited. You are wealthy enough and resilient enough to be able to help those who are buffeted and to take advantage of the opportunities, which are out there other, rather than to say, ‘I do not want the competition, I do not want cars which are made overseas and I want to pull back and forget about the rest of the world’.

Asked how Chinese President Xi Jinping would respond to a possible ultimatum from US presidential candidate Donald Trump on a 40 per cent trade tariff, Mr Lee said Mr Xi would likely stop working with the US.

“If you put that to any other country, those who have no choice would lie back and enjoy it. Those who have a choice will say, ‘Chuck it, I cannot work on this basis’,” Mr Lee said.

The role of the US as the world’s leader is indispensable, Mr Lee said.

“You will still be the leader and if you do not cooperate, nothing can be done. If you do not do climate change, there is no climate change solution for the world because unless you are committed, we cannot get the Chinese along, much less the Indians and everybody else.

“So, your role remains indispensable. Whether you are prepared to step up to that, or whether you decide to chuck it and just ignore what the consequences will be, because they come after the current presidential term, well, that, we cannot say how your political process will turn out. In practical politics, it is always a trade-off between grasping the nettle and kicking the can down the road and every politician does sometimes one and sometimes the other.”

There is an “extreme menu of choices” in this US elections – choices which are likely to end up on the ballot paper, Mr Lee noted.

“You believe in your system, with checks and balances, you can have somebody who is far from ideal become the President and the system will prevent him from doing harm. And so far, it has worked in the sense that you have had Presidents who have not measured up, but after some time, well, the world comes back.

“But I do not think you have ever had such an extreme menu of choices as you have in this election, choices which are likely to end up on the ballot paper. If you do, well, there are precedents. In Asia, you can write those off as unstable, immature democracies, but in Europe, before the War, such stress led to very extreme outcomes in Germany, in Italy and in the end, you have a very unhappy result.”

- CNA/cy

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Will they listen to him?


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