Editor's Note: Tom Fowdy is a British political and international relations analyst and a graduate of Durham and Oxford universities. He writes on topics pertaining to China, the DPRK, Britain, and the United States. The article reflects the author's opinions, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Peter Navarro has been a close and influential adviser to Donald Trump on his China policy, not of course for the right reasons. A known hardliner against Beijing, Navarro has long advocated aggressive action against China, thus he has been dubbed the "architect" of Trump's trade war. He has persistently advocated more and more pressure in the belief that the White House can bring Beijing to"collapse" through tariffs, whilst arguing at the same time that such a move will have little impact on the United States.

How did Navarro come by such a position? And what is, for that matter, his qualifications? Trump selected him for his apparent hawkishness on trade with China and a belief in the restoration of U.S. industrial policy through protectionism. His background on the topic can be found in a book he published in 2011 known as "Death by China." His text proceeded to advocate an excessive list of superficial allegations against China, accusing the country of currency manipulation, and manufacturing dangerous goods. 

Although the book was poorly received by critics at the time, slammed as a "rabid piece of agitprop" by critics, last week it found itself embroiled in a fresh controversy. That is, a revelation that Navarro had fabricated a source within the text, citing a "Harvard educated" economist called Ron Vara, who was in fact completely fictional. In response, the book's publisher, Pearson, stated that it would be taking action against it to uphold their standards, thus adding a warning that it contains a "fictional character."

This development should tell you everything you need to know about Trump's China policy and the so-called expertise behind it. Far from being culturally, politically and historically informed on the issue, the White House is driven by complete prejudice and the low-hanging fruits of populist nationalism, thriving off a confrontation with China than a serious appeal to facts and reason. In doing so, it should be no surprise to anyone that none of Navarro's predictions, estimations or strategies has been even remotely successful. Far from restoring U.S. manufacturing, his policies have in fact driven it off a cliff.

On domestic issues, Trump's White House is known nationwide for its appeal to flat out dishonesty, falsehoods and misinformation in advocating its political positions. Trump and his advisers have told more lies and made more incorrect statements than any administration in modern recorded history. Yet, on the matter of foreign policy, his premiership seems to get a free pass from many areas of the press and analytical community who are happy to support his "tough" stance on China.

What of course do they know about China to be taken so seriously? The answer is nothing. They don't speak Chinese, they don't know anything about the country's society, history, culture or political context, or nor for that matter do they take an interest in doing so. Instead, their policy has been built around not facts or reason, but an appeal to popular prejudices with the view of garnishing support from nationalist confrontation with Beijing. It's what audiences simply want to hear. In doing so, they have yet again sought to appeal to people's fears by spreading complete falsehoods.

This is the premise of Navarro's book, and in turn it is the premise of Trump's disastrous trade war. Both figures have claimed that China has stolen jobs, cheated and that tariffs will bring back manufacturing to the United States. In reality, U.S. manufacturing declined by 0.5 percent in September and hit a ten-year low, having continued to drop over the summer, whilst industrial capacity and outputs also fell. Economists happen to blame the trade war. The promises of new factories and blue collar jobs have not materialized.

In this case, the outlook speaks volumes about Peter Navarro and the Presidency which has hired him. Not only has his faulty and now dubious expertise inevitably failed to yield the gains it promised America, but neither has it seemingly touched his personal position and standing. In any other advisory or analytical scenario, the complete fabrication of a source in the bid to spread falsehoods to justify one's argument would be a career-ending scandal which would end in either resignation or if not first, dismissal.

Yet we live in the Trump era, whereby the spreading of false information and an appeal to fear has become a new normal, procedural activity which is not scrutinized, but seemingly rewarded on a political level. There is nobody skilled, sensible or adequately informed leading America's China debate. Instead, the dog whistle of prejudice, fear and falsehood continues in sailing the ship of state toward the rocks.

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