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Why Is The U.S. Desperate To OK Slavery In Malaysia?
from MrsJJS on 07/03/2015 07:04 AMWASHINGTON -- On Friday night, in an impressive display of dysfunction, the U.S. Senate approved a controversial trade bill with a provision that the White House, Senate leadership and the author of the language himself wanted taken out.
The provision, which bars countries that engage in slavery from being part of major trade deals with the U.S., was written by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.). At the insistence of the White House, Menendez agreed to modify his language to say that as long as a country is taking "concrete" steps toward reducing human trafficking and forced labor, it can be part of a trade deal. Under the original language, the country that would be excluded from the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership pact is Malaysia.
But because the Senate is the Senate, it was unable to swap out the original language for the modification. (The chamber needed unanimous consent to make the legislative move, and an unknown senator or senators objected.) So the trade promotion authority bill that passed Friday includes the strong anti-slavery language, which the House will now work to take out to ensure that Malaysia (and, potentially, other countries in the future) can be part of the deal.
Observers are left with a deeper question: Why, in the year 2015, is the White House teaming up with Republican leaders essentially to defend the practice of slavery?
Understanding this is key to understanding why President Barack Obama has been pushing so aggressively for a trade deal that so many of his allies insist will harm American workers. It's about global power, geopolitics and pushing back against the rise of China. And that starts with Malaysia.
How bad is Malaysia?
Unfortunately for Obama, Malaysia is a hub of human trafficking comparable, according to the State Department, to North Korea and Saudi Arabia. It falls in Tier 3, the lowest ranking a country can have in the State Department's annual human trafficking report, which gauges a country's actions against modern-day slavery.
Why is Malaysia so important?
A century ago, U.S. foreign policy focused on the brand-new country of Panama. Wars were started, coups were plotted, deals were struck, all toward the end of controlling access to its just-completed canal. Today the Panama Canal is still a global trade "chokepoint" that shipping must pass through. Another chokepoint, equally if not more important, is the Strait of Malacca, which lies between the Indonesian island of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula.
Unlike Senate Democrats and labor leaders, many experts on U.S.-China relations consider the Trans-Pacific Partnership essential. They argue that the deal, which the Obama administration is forging with 11 other Pacific nations, will show that Washington is not going to allow an expansionist Beijing to dominate the region with tactics ranging from bullying smaller nations to building island fortresses in disputed waters. A March 2015 report from the Council on Foreign Relations lists granting Obama trade promotion authority -- which will grease the skids for the TPP to pass Congress -- as the top way in which the legislators can ensure a smart U.S. response to China's rise.
Malaysia, and the Strait of Malacca, is the lynchpin of that kind of thinking.
Why is the Strait of Malacca so critical?
That thin waterway links the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean. Through it last year passed 85 percent of China's imported oil, according to the latest U.S. Department of Defense estimates. Imports provide 60 percent of the oil that China's growing economy needs. (Note that the Defense Department is keeping this information.)
The U.S. Navy currently dominates this vital strait courtesy of warships that are based in Singapore (at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula) and tacitly welcomed by Malaysia. Both of those nations are perturbed and directly threatened by China's muscular actions in their neighborhood. In a sign of its concern, Malaysia has even offered to expand the American military footprint in the region by hosting U.S. Navy aircraft.
For the Malaysians, the worry is not simply the Strait of Malacca. It is the idea that China may become a hegemon in the South China Sea. Beijing's expansion there has directly infringed on waters claimed by Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Indonesia and Taiwan.
That region is already vital for global trade -- 60 percent of international commerce travels through it -- and potentially the future of energy because of its oil and gas deposits. Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in 2010 that the U.S. had a national interest in maintaining free passage through the South China Sea. CNN chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto revealed Tuesday that the U.S. may soon send aircraft and warships even closer to the contested islands being fortified by China.
By reaffirming ties to Malaysia through the TPP, the U.S. would secure its ability to pressure China -- and punish it for disruptive behavior in the South China Sea and elsewhere-- courtesy of the Strait of Malacca.
China has tried to diversify its supply of energy, through measures like building overland oil pipelines, including a pipeline to a Burmese port that lets ships bringing oil to China bypass the Strait of Malacca. But the just-released Pentagon report concludes that the strait and other sea lines will only become more important as China's energy demand grows.
All of this makes a TPP without Malaysia a TPP that is far less strategically valuable to the U.S. -- and that sends a much weaker signal to China.
Where's this headed?
Yet congressional opponents are sticking to their guns as they argue that Malaysia should not be included in the deal at all. The U.S. has tacitly controlled the Strait of Malacca for decades, yet the American middle class has eroded nonetheless, with gains flowing to the top one percent instead. Critics of the deal ask why the American worker should be asked to suffer further simply to prop up a global system from which they don't see the benefit.
While the modified language in the trade bill would require Malaysia (and other potential trade partners) to set forth plans to combat human trafficking, Democrats insist that isn't enough. They argue that the U.S. has other leverage it should use: Malaysia would prefer to partner with the U.S., as China is more likely to make significant demands when it comes to control of the smaller nation, whereas the U.S. is largely content with control of shipping. That gives Malaysia an incentive to improve its record on human trafficking to become part of the TPP, rather than be pushed into China's arms.
"If nothing changes, Malaysia should not be in this agreement," Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) told The Huffington Post after the Senate passed the trade promotion bill on Friday night.
Brown added that "no country should get in with that designation," referring to Malaysia's Tier 3 ranking. He said he plans to try to build momentum in the House against granting the president trade promotion authority and is hopeful that Republicans will be unable to tweak the anti-slavery language in the Senate bill.
If the House isn't able to modify the anti-slavery language and thereby secure the U.S.'s chance to sign a deal with Malaysia, Brown's goals could be accomplished -- and Obama's vision of a strong TPP and U.S. authority across the Pacific could be shattered.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/26/tpp-malaysia-slavery_n_7444978.html
Reported: 05/26/2015
ReplyRe: Why is Rand Paul being ignored by the media?
from MrsJJS on 06/18/2015 04:41 AMAnyone who is a perceived threat to the status quo is either branded a loon and/or ignored.
Re: What is your favorite religion?
from MrsJJS on 06/17/2015 07:46 PMI don't have one but if I did I think I'd choose this one: http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/5minbud.htm
Re: All Major Stores and Grocery Chain Stores To Close Indefinitely This Year?
from MrsJJS on 06/17/2015 07:30 PMWent to the link but didn't watch...couldn't justify wasting 30 minutes of my life watching a yet another dooms day video
Re: The NRA has never shot anybody, why do they get the blame for crazy non-NRA members killing people? Guns don't kill people crazy people do.
from MrsJJS on 06/17/2015 07:18 PM@Corey
Extremely well put. If I could rave you I would!
Re: Black Bear or Grizzly Bear or Polar Bear - Which you like the most?
from MrsJJS on 06/16/2015 08:30 PMI never tasted any of them so I couldn't possibly say. 
Re: What language will a baby speak if it spends every month with different language speakers?
from MrsJJS on 06/16/2015 08:27 PMI don't know but I do know that I had a French colleague who married an English speaking man. They had a child and my colleague wanted her son to be bilingual, therefore she decided to only speak to the child in French and her husband only spoke to the child in English.
The result of this ended up in delayed speech for the child and when he did start speaking he was he would construct sentences made up of both French and English words...which did him no good when he started preschool at 4yrs old and interacting with other children who didn't know what he was going on about.
Needless to say they didn't make the same mistake with the second child.
Re: Should each state do what this state has? Maine Just Put Welfare Leeches in Their Place, Every American Needs To See What Happened Next
from MrsJJS on 06/15/2015 06:53 AMI've always been in favour of a quid pro quo arrangement when it comes to welfare. Having a welfare system without structure or an end goal and leaving people languish year after year on welfare is detrimental to the recipient's feelings of self-esteem, self-worth and sense of purpose.
When a person is off work for a considerable amount of time they tend to lose confidence and their sense of purpose. Volunteering and/or learning new skills helps them to get back into a routine and gives them a reason to get up every day.
For those who have little to no experience or employable skills it gives them the experience or skills to add to a resume/job application. It also helps to renew their sense of purpose and pride when they are earning their own money.
Intentionally keeping people dependant on the state and not encouraging them to be independent is abusive and a form of vote buying.
Transgender MMA Fighter Destroys Female Opponent
from MrsJJS on 06/13/2015 06:36 AMPersonally I think this is unfair and will undermine women's sports.
http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/transgender-mma-fighter-destroys-female-opponent/
Re: Cottaging or Camping?
from MrsJJS on 06/12/2015 06:35 AMI did a double take when I first saw the question thinking what does one have to do with the other. Cottaging is a slang term in the UK for gay men hooking up for sex..lol
If the weather is nice... I like a tent but if it's pouring down with rain I'd much prefer a cottage.