Fear of China

Dear Victorious,

I'm new to your blog but did some searches and found you talking about how China doesn't share America's values, etc. Being a second generation Chinese-American, I'm particularly interested in what America thinks of China. It would seem that the American relationship with China has never been better. So what if they don't really share our values? Is there really something to fear here?

Su Lin - Redwood City, CA

Dear Su Lin,

I'm not sure that there is anything specific to fear regarding America's relationship with China. Quite frankly, the Bible tells Christians to live without fear. So even if China were to take over the U.S. and rule it, I couldn't be afraid. That said, the relationship that we have with China is quite complex. Quite honestly, the only thing about it that I fear is that America hasn't spent near enough time in prayer about that relationship. Are we responding to China in God-honoring ways? Frankly, I worry that we're not. And I worry that the reason we're not is because we're deceived by capitalism.

The trade and other dimensions of our relationship with China seem to be dominated by capitalism. At best it is a greed-based system that has always favored the rich and oppressed the poor.

Don't get me wrong. I think capitalism is okay. I just don't think we should let it define foreign policy. I also don't think we should let it define domestic policy either. And I suspect that if we prayed and sought God's wisdom on how to relate effectively with China, He wouldn't tell us to do it with capitalism.