U.S. fake conservatives suddenly talking tough on China, after condemning Trump for taking actual action

As more and more evidence emerges showing that the Chinese virus that allowed Democrat governors to destroy the previously-roaring U.S. economy, more "elites" are starting to worry that they're about to be exposed as de facto agents of China.

These fake conservatives pretend to be for Principled Free Trade, but what they're really pushing is for the U.S. not to impose tariffs on Chinese imports to the U.S.

You might wonder why they opposed the idea of imposing tariffs on Chinese goods.  One reason might be payments from big U.S. companies that import billions of dollars of Chinese goods, and companies that shipped their production lines to China to reduce their labor costs.

So to avoid look like total traitors, these fake conservatives are now rushing to criticize China, while carefully avoiding suggesting the U.S government do anything that would actually hurt China, such as putting significant tariffs on Chinese imports--including products made in China that give certain American companies billions of dollars of profit per year.

Say,  Apple and Nike, for starters.

These fake conservatives joined Democrats in condemning Trump for imposing tariffs.  They want everyone to believe that Principled Free Traders™ could someday consider imposing tariffs on bad actors such as China, just not this year.  Or next.  Or next decade.

Feel free not to click on the links below, since these are all National Review links, but here are some of the endless NR posts that condemned Trump for prioritizing American jobs and for imposing tariffs on Chinese products.

Tariffs Beget Tariffs (June 2018)
National Review’s Jibran Khan condemned Trump for tariffs, and made the peculiar argument that while American tariffs on Chinese goods primarily hurt Americans, Chinese retaliatory tariffs on American goods primarily hurt…well…Americans too. No it doesn’t make sense. But when you’re advocating for surrender to a communist regime, it’s not going to make sense.

Free Trade Already Puts America First (June 2018)
National Review’s David Harsanyi condemned Trump’s tariffs and explained that unilaterally surrendering to China on trade is actually patriotic and pro-American.

China Trade Has Been A Bust (March 2018)
National Review’s Rich Lowry condemned Trump’s tariffs and instead proposed that the US engage the WTO and “influence multi-lateral agreements” and “muster an alliance” and “forge bilateral agreements,” etc. In other words, Mr. Lowry proposed failure theater, known to accomplish nothing.  So, surrendering to China.

The Unmade Case Against China (July 2019)
National Review’s Michael Brendan Dougherty condemned Trump’s tariffs and proposed instead that Trump “use the bully pulpit” against China rather than take any actual action.  Again, words and phrases that sound cogent but accomplish nothing--as intended.

Out Of Order (Aug 2019)
‘The Editors’ at National Review condemned Trump’s tariffs, criticizing him for employing tariffs rather than “cooperating with others” or “prioritizing free trade” or talking to the WTO.

So these fake-conservative Principled Free Traders™ now have a problem. They love the Chinese dictatorship, and the Chinese model of government.  They have no problem when an American business lays off workers and sends those jobs to China. But with the Wuhan virus adding to the yuck factor of China’s human rights record, it's time for these elites to pretend to look tough on China.

So what’s a Principled Free Trader™ who’s been licking Xi Jinping’s shoes supposed to do? National Review’s Jim Geraghty has suddenly started churning out a flood of “tough on China” columns, trying to save face by pointing out that he never specifically called the lab leak hypothesis a crazy, discredited conspiracy theory. 

But fake tough talk aside, Geraghty and the rest of the National Review staff still refuse to propose any actions that would actually reduce China's export earnings to the U.S.

Here are some recent CYA articles from National Review:

There Are No Issues on Which China Can Be Considered an Ally (Isaac Schorr – April 2021)

Let me summarize in my own words the bold recommendation in this article. “Do absolutely nothing, especially regarding trade with China.” And here is some of the actual NR tough talk:

It is incumbent upon the president and his diplomatic corps to identify these spheres — the environment, coronavirus, sports, etc. — as battlegrounds, and engage on them.

Ah, yes:  "Identify these spheres...and engage on them."  Certainly.  "Engage."  Yep yep yep.

China’s Moral Disfigurement (Perry Link – May 2021)

Again, let me summarize in my own words the bold recommendation in this article. “Do absolutely nothing, especially regarding trade with China.” 

And it’s not just National Review. The Principled Free Traders™ throughout Conservative, Inc. are suddenly embarrassed that they have been exposed as de facto allies of the Chinese communist government. So, these faux-conservatives are now pretending to condemn China while furiously trying to ensure that nothing is actually done that would cause economic harm to China or its leadership. 

It's as if these fake conservatives are trying to ensure the value of Joe and Hunter's holdings in China don't lose value or something.

Adapted from a piece by Buck Throckmorton at Ace of Spades.