Democrats and Republicans have argued about China for 150 years – Axios

China will likely be a major issue in the 2020 presidential election, as the coronavirus crisis continues to paralyze large swaths of the U.S. economy. But even without a global pandemic ramping up the geopolitical stakes, Democrats and Republicans have long disagreed over how to deal with the world's most populous country.

Why it matters: Debates from decades ago still echo in today's partisan divide over China policy, revealing entrenched attitudes that complicate America's search for a sustainable relationship with Beijing.

What's happening: Republicans are coming down harder than ever on China, and there are almost no political downsides for them in this campaign season.

Democrats, meanwhile, are experiencing a kind of paralysis.

Details: Partisan issues dating as far back as the 19th century still inform the national conversation today:

The 1870s and 1880s: The Chinese Exclusion Act

Since Trump's election, Chinese-American groups have pointed to similarities between the political environment in the 1880s and today.

The 1940s and 1950s: The Chinese Communist victory and the start of the Cold War

That was the moment "China became a sensitive domestic political issue," said Chang. To this day, Democrats have remained deeply fearful of a return to Cold War-era suspicions, which makes them loathe to echo some of the more hardline Republican rhetoric that has become mainstream since 2016.

The 1990s: Appeasement after the Tiananmen massacre

The bottom line: The divide between Republicans and Democrats on China policy runs deep.

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Democrats and Republicans have argued about China for 150 years - Axios