This is a Priority Issue for US-China Relationship?
You know, with global climate change, the situation with Iran, trade conflicts, and economic/trade imbalances, you would think that the US-China bilateral dialog would be focused on these very important matters.
Apparently not. After reading this FT article, I actually got pissed off.
Hillary Clinton is on course to raise the $61m in private money needed to build a US pavilion for a trade fair in Shanghai next year, clearing one of the main foreign policy obstacles ahead of Barack Obama’s state visit to China next week.
[. . .]
America’s absence from the fair, running from May to October, was the first issue to be raised by the Chinese when Mrs Clinton visited in February. “The Chinese were very upset,” says Elizabeth Baghley, who heads Mrs Clinton’s office for global partnerships. “When she came back from China she said: ‘Whatever it takes, this matters to China and to US business and we are going to get this done’.”
Come on. Seriously?
I understand that the Expo is a big deal and that a lot of time, effort, and money is going into it. Perfectly reasonable that a lot of folks should be discussing it. But the fact that Hillary Clinton had to worry about this, and that she had to spend her valuable time raising money for a trade fair when there are TWO WARS GOING ON!!! — sorry for yelling, but I don’t know what else to say here . . .
Thanks for posting this.
Our current diplomatic strategy toward China is a joke, the fact that our secretary of state is running around to find investors for what ultimately amounts to a Chinese “face” project is embarrassing.
This is our top priority–
-while China continues to pursue misguided economic policies that are good for local economic/political stability in the short run, but bad for international economic stability in the long run.
-while China goes unchallenged in its irresponsible and haughty
protection of corrupt and dangerous governments in North Korea, Iran, Myanmar, Zimbabwe etc. (now Afghanistan as well)
-while China’s foreign service members spread home-grown censorship pressures around the world backed by economic threats,
-while China’s “cyber/espionage war” on the US and other developed countries continues unabated,
-while human rights abuses within China go increasingly ignored by the outside world,
-while a generation of Chinese citizens have been raised either ignorant, apathetic, or abhorrent of democratic values,
-and finally while China increasingly takes steps backward from political reform and true integration with the global community.
I believe that President Obama’s call for a new diplomacy based on mutual respect and open dialogue is an admirable goal, but when it comes to China, we seem to have left all of our core principles behind in its pursuit. The more “face” we give the CCP, the more we seem to become their lapdog. Mutual respect is nice, but there is nothing “mutual” about our relationship with China at the moment.
Someone needs to wake up and realize that there is no quid pro quo with the Chinese government. If you give, they take…end of story. (Look at how they treat their own citizens for pete’s sake, do you think they “respect” America anymore after bowing to their wishes?) We’ve been looking for a win-win scenario with China for years, but where have the majority of the benefits of this relationship fallen?
Well . . . that wasn’t exactly where I was going with my post.
I generally like the US diplomatic strategy towards China. It has not achieved quick results on certain issues, to be true, but progress has been made on many fronts over the years. If another couple years go by with no movement on the RMB, however, I might change my mind.
I am NOT in favor of an aggressive, bombastic style, which I believe would achieve nothing.
If I were to give one piece of advice to the Obama Administration on general China policy, it would be something like “More of the same,” or “Even more engagement.”