I didn’t know this but it seems like it should be relevant. I hope the Biden debate prep people are on it. (It’s probably too much to ask that the moderators are.) Jonathan Chait explains: One of the most underappreciated developments of Donald Trump’s presidency is that his strategy toward China was a total failure on its own terms. While Trump began his presidency as a snarling trade warrior, bent on ending Chinese manufacturing dominance, he ended his presidency as a whimpering apologist for Beijing. The culmination of Trump’s standoff with China was a trade deal that supposedly committed China to purchasing $200 billion worth of American goods. Robert O’Brien, a former Trump national security adviser, admits that the Chinese never actually carried out their end of the deal. “I don’t think we’re going to see a deal like we saw in the first term,” he told Semafor’s Morgan Chalfant. “I think people were generally happy with phase one, but as it turned out, the Chinese didn’t honor it.” You don’t say? Huh. Recall that he demeaned China at every turn until they set of his deal at which time he said, “Terrific working with President Xi, a man who truly loves his country. Much more to come!” Then COVID hit and Trump did everything he could to keep the deal going even though people were dropping dead and the world economy was shutting down. It led Trump to weeks of playing down the crisis to keep his precious deal on track.…