MIRROR OF CHINA

"Just as midterm election results produced a new balance of power in the U.S. Congress and Senate yesterday morning, China announced that its sensitive trade surplus hit a record high last month -- up 27 per cent from a previous high of $18.8-billion (U.S.) in August.

In October alone, the surplus rose to $23.8-billion. For the first 10 months of the year, China's surplus totalled $113.6-billion, surpassing last year's $102-billion surplus for the year to date, said China's General Administration of Customs.

This point will be driven home again today with the release of new U.S. trade data, expected to show another huge trade deficit with China."

DemFromCT at Daily Kos has a post about the new populist bent of Dems, especially regarding fair trade vs. free trade. Something has got to be done, and we've got to make sure the new Congress does it.

This evening, I had a very interesting discussion with my nephew who has just recently returned from a trip to China. His company which makes something or other which involves metals, is negotiating with China as a supplier.

It's one thing to read about unfair trade practices and the plight of the laborors providing all of the "cheap" labor oversees, and another to encounter it first and second hand. He told me many things about China, some of which I'd like to share here.

(Note: This is a cross posting of a very large post of mine at Demokat, so I'm routing you over there to the permalink rather than eat up a huge space here at ALW.)