February 03, 2011
Obama's Sputnik Moment Means Cold War with China
It was extremely disappointing to hear President Obama talk only of competition with China in his 2011 State of the Union address to the American Congress. Chinese children learn science and math at an earlier age, Chinese trains are faster, and China's airports are newer we are told. It seems Obama's "Sputnik Moment" for the current generation is that we must compete with China. This is thinly veiled indication that we are in a new Cold War with China where we will compete for technology, resources (oil in particular), and the minds of our youth. And what an awkward Cold War it is - Beijing buys Washington's debts, essentially paying for its own containment. And unlike the previous Cold War there are no centers devoted to researching, studying, and understanding the Chinese. Worse Washington and the American people wallow in utter ignorance of what really makes up the vast nation we call China and its complex government. Congress calls Chinese President Hu a "dictator" while oblivious to the huge ideological differences between the four major factions within the 70+ million strong Chinese Communist Party and unaware of the Chinese political process from village election to the workings of the party conferences. Dangerous times are ahead....
Labels: china policy, obama, politics
January 18, 2011
US-China Summit: China Policy in Disarray
WASHINGTON, DC -- On the 20th anniversary of the fist Gulf War crisis Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived today for a state visit. Chinese flags fluttered across the cold American capital as the usual China gatekeepers pontificated in print and airwaves about the need for China to be "responsible" and the importance of the stale policy concerns of Washington toward Beijing.
America's China policy is bereft of innovation and woefully outdated. Now defined by both State and Treasury Departments neither Tim Geithner nor Hillary Clinton offer anything new. Geithner continues to stress currency an issue where he knows the USA has no high ground (the USA is as much a currency "manipulator" as China or Japan or the EU) and Geithner knows full well the USA will never get China to budge on Yuan appreciation. As for State Hillary Clinton trotted out human rights concerns that sounded like leftovers from her time at the UN Conference on Women in Beijing. China's human rights record hinders investment she says. Really? Yet China remains the world's top destination for foreign direct investment.
The reason the unacknowledged anniversary of Gulf War I is important is because both nations are dependent on the steady flow of Persian Gulf oil - China even more so than the USA. In January 1991 China came out in full support of Kuwait and the rhetoric behind the air strikes against Saddam Hussein. Only a few months earlier in July 1990 Beijing established relations with Saudi Arabia and the quest was on for oil contracts Chinese leaders knew the country would soon need. By 1993 China became a net oil importer. Around the same time US oil imports grew faster as domestic production peaked and began a steady decline. Yet there is no talk of "peak oil" or the resource competition underway between our two nations - the world's top two energy users and polluters.
Meanwhile in the background the Pentagon and its friends in the Anglo-American media beat the war drums with scary stories about missile gaps (China's "carrier killer" missiles may make our 12 Navy aircraft carrier groups obsolete!) and Chinese planes that might achieve 1980s level technology.
So can we expect more of the same stupid discourse on China in the 2012 election cycle? Unless something different emerges from this week's meetings I fear we will again kick China policy and our need for cooperation further down the road to mutual destruction.
Labels: china policy, foreign relations, hu jintao, politics
December 28, 2010
Guess What? China Didn't Collapse!
I am back from China and have much to say but first the holidays! 2011 will bring many changes to the Sinomania! website.
This past Spring the China doomsayers called for a collapse by end of the year. Well it didn't happen and most likely won't happen for a very long time. Yet mainstream media continues to broadcast and print coming collapse of China pablum. Fortune magazine just featured Jim Chanos on its cover. I believe we may well be in an age of Chinese exceptionalism much as America created its own trends throughout the 20th Century with global implications. Must we fear this new environment?
I thoroughly enjoyed my trip and the warm hospitality of the Chinese people. If more Americans actually went to China our perceptions would change immediately. The ghosts of two Chinese giants from the past century (both born in the 19th Century) - Mao Zedong and Henry Luce -continue to haunt our thoughts of China. Yet their world is long gone for better and for worse.
A new China policy is needed in the USA one that works constructively to foster change in China. Without positive increased cooperation with China fearmongers will propel us to nuclear war. Politicos of all stripes in America are gearing up to blame China for all of the USA's problems in the 2012 election cycle. Yet their arguments are almost entirely based on myths. The time has come for the USA to stop blaming China and stop misunderstanding China.
This past Spring the China doomsayers called for a collapse by end of the year. Well it didn't happen and most likely won't happen for a very long time. Yet mainstream media continues to broadcast and print coming collapse of China pablum. Fortune magazine just featured Jim Chanos on its cover. I believe we may well be in an age of Chinese exceptionalism much as America created its own trends throughout the 20th Century with global implications. Must we fear this new environment?
I thoroughly enjoyed my trip and the warm hospitality of the Chinese people. If more Americans actually went to China our perceptions would change immediately. The ghosts of two Chinese giants from the past century (both born in the 19th Century) - Mao Zedong and Henry Luce -continue to haunt our thoughts of China. Yet their world is long gone for better and for worse.
A new China policy is needed in the USA one that works constructively to foster change in China. Without positive increased cooperation with China fearmongers will propel us to nuclear war. Politicos of all stripes in America are gearing up to blame China for all of the USA's problems in the 2012 election cycle. Yet their arguments are almost entirely based on myths. The time has come for the USA to stop blaming China and stop misunderstanding China.
Labels: china policy, politics, propaganda
October 06, 2010
US China Policy Should Be Campaign Issue
Christine O'Donnell the much maligned Republican nominee for Deleware's open US Senate seat says China has a secret plan to take over America. O'Donnell made the claim in a 2006 debate for the nomination. The transcript of her remarks obtained by The Washington Post contain several lies about China that have currency in anti-China circles: China is "taking American oil" by drilling off the coast of Florida; in China you are "not allowed to be Christian" or read the Bible. But the flap over her remarks do point out the necessity to bring US policy on China and Americans ignorance about China and Chinese people into national focus.
China policy should - must - be a national campaign issue in the next election cycle in 2012. See my new group Americans for a New China Policy....
China policy should - must - be a national campaign issue in the next election cycle in 2012. See my new group Americans for a New China Policy....
Labels: china policy, foreign relations, politics
February 25, 2010
Anti-China Senators Call For "Crackdown" On China
Longstanding China critic Senator Chuck Schumer of New York is leading a pack of anti-China Senators in election year pandering to big union and other contributer interests by urging the Obama administration to -once again- declare that Beijing is "manipulating" its currency and solely responsible for the loss of American manufacturing jobs.
The anti-China coalition consists of:
- Charles E. Schumer (D-NY)
- Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
- Robert Byrd (D-WV)
- Carl Levin (D-MI)
- Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
- Russ Feingold (D-WI)
- Susan Collins (R-ME)
- Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
- Sam Brownback (R-KS)
- Jim Bunning (R-KY)
- Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
- Ben Cardin (D-MD)
- Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
- Bob Casey (D-PA)
- Arlen Specter (D-PA)
Anyone familiar with these politicians knows that they are the chorus in all condemnations against China. Sherrod Brown is a bomb thrower of particular reknown being a co-founder of the Taiwan Congressional Caucus.
The hypocrisy in the Senators' action is rich. All are beholden to special interests that require them to play a China card on wedge issues such as trade and human rights. Yet many come from states that benefit greatly from expanding Chinese trade, the USA's third biggest and fastest growing export market. It is afer all US multinational corporations that lead the charge in outsourcing to China. And there is no matching call against the Japanese Yen which is actively supported by Tokyo to be just as advantageous in trade.
Election year politics aside regular readers know that Washington is powerless to force currency appreciation on China beyond what is already happening in the markets....
Labels: china policy, chinese trade, congress, currencies, free trade, hypocrisy, schumer
August 25, 2009
Newt Gingrich: US Should Step Up Cooperation with China
Speaking in Beijing on a tour with the American Foreign Policy Council, former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich emphasized the need for USA and China cooperation in global affairs, according to Xinhua reports. Mr. Gingrich is thus entirely in agreement with the revised Obama policy on China. In 1997, just a few months before the showy Hong Kong "handover", Newt made a point of confronting Beijing over Taiwan. Are neoconservatives losing their sinophobia?
Labels: china policy, foreign relations
July 28, 2009
Obama's China Speech Emphasizes "Partnership"
The first Obama Administration China summit concludes today. The "Strategic and Economic Dialogue" takes USA-China relations a step further away from "strategic competitor" under W and back to the late Bill Clinton era (post 1996) view of China as a "partner."
The word "partner" or "partnership" is mentioned four times in Obama's largely complimentary speech. The speech gives clues to what Obama expects of China: 1) coordination on economic growth and recovery; 2) cooperation on alternative energy to reduce both nations' dependence on oil imports and air pollution; 3) coordination to stop nuclear proliferation, citing Korea and Iran in particular; and 4) cooperation in "confronting transnational threats" (terrorism) with Obama mentioning "increased ties between our militaries."
Overall, Obama's China policy - as defined by his speech - is refreshingly realistic and pays only lip service to ineffectual issues such as "human rights," "currency manipulation," and without one mention of Taiwan, a clear signal that his administration may be the first in over 60 years to not have a "Taiwan Straits Crisis".
Some key points Obama made:
"We can't predict with certainty what the future will bring, but we can be certain about the issues that will define our times. And we also know this: The relationship between the United States and China will shape the 21st century, which makes it as important as any bilateral relationship in the world. That really must underpin our partnership. That is the responsibility that together we bear."
"[T]he United States and China share mutual interests. If we advance those interests through cooperation, our people will benefit and the world will be better off"......
The word "partner" or "partnership" is mentioned four times in Obama's largely complimentary speech. The speech gives clues to what Obama expects of China: 1) coordination on economic growth and recovery; 2) cooperation on alternative energy to reduce both nations' dependence on oil imports and air pollution; 3) coordination to stop nuclear proliferation, citing Korea and Iran in particular; and 4) cooperation in "confronting transnational threats" (terrorism) with Obama mentioning "increased ties between our militaries."
Overall, Obama's China policy - as defined by his speech - is refreshingly realistic and pays only lip service to ineffectual issues such as "human rights," "currency manipulation," and without one mention of Taiwan, a clear signal that his administration may be the first in over 60 years to not have a "Taiwan Straits Crisis".
Some key points Obama made:
"We can't predict with certainty what the future will bring, but we can be certain about the issues that will define our times. And we also know this: The relationship between the United States and China will shape the 21st century, which makes it as important as any bilateral relationship in the world. That really must underpin our partnership. That is the responsibility that together we bear."
"[T]he United States and China share mutual interests. If we advance those interests through cooperation, our people will benefit and the world will be better off"......
Labels: china policy, obama, strategic dialogue
December 18, 2008
TECRO Top Clinton Foundation Donor
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office or TECRO, the defacto embassy of Taiwan in the USA, is named as a top donor of the Clinton Foundation in the $1-5 million category. Two businesses based on mainland China also gave but much smaller amounts.
Labels: china policy, globalization, taiwan
November 21, 2008
Obama Picks China Hand for Treasury
Well, it may be a stretch to call Tim Geithner, current President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a "China Hand" but he did study Chinese in university (Dartmouth) and study abroad at Peking University. So Geithner lived in Beijing and has experienced China first hand.
Of course, one can argue that Beijing is hardly "China" and Geithner was there back in the 80s before Deng Xiaoping solidified control and the bourgeoisie won China back.
Nevertheless, first hand China knowledge is very important as the USA and China continue their odd economic convergence. Equally important is Geithner's personal background.
His father, Peter Geithner, is advisor to the Asia Center at Harvard, a member of the uber-influential National Committee on US-China Relations, on the board at Peking University, and formerly of the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations. Tim Geithner, like Obama and Hank Paulson, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Labels: china policy, treasury
November 20, 2008
Fish and Chips
The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (set up in 2000 as a consolation prize to anti-China Trade Relations Act foes) has released its annual blather accusing China of manipulating its currency and of dangerous outer and cyber space data stealing and exports of fish.
Wortzel's Last Blast of Hot Air
Five of the 12 commissioners will end their 2 year terms on December 31, including Chairman Larry Wortzel, the Heritage Foundation's China "authority" who was given the chairmanship by disgraced former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL).
With the current crisis surrounding the Panic of '08 and China's status as the USA's number 1 creditor, it would be wise for the incoming Congress to appoint less biased members to the panel.
With the current crisis surrounding the Panic of '08 and China's status as the USA's number 1 creditor, it would be wise for the incoming Congress to appoint less biased members to the panel.
Labels: china policy, global security, panic of 2008
November 01, 2008
Obama: China Manipulates Currency
Just days away from the Presidential election, Obama told a group of Textile industry lobbyists that he would take "all diplomatic means" to induce China to make a series of recommended changes to the satisfaction of America's textile mill owners.
Further, he embraced mandating the "Buy America" provision in Defense related procurement. Taking this stand, however, will give China no incentive to accede to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, long over due after seven years of WTO membership privileges. It is a form of protectionism wrapped in the flag to appear patriotic. It is a dangerous sign that an Obama administration -- like all others before it -- may open to lobbying influence in China policy.
Labels: china policy, chinese trade, free trade, lobbyists, obama
March 25, 2008
Minuteman Missiles on Taiwan?
The Pentagon today acknowledged that devices for intercontinental ballistic "Minuteman" missiles were shipped by the Air Force to Taiwan. The devices are "component[s] for the fuse in the nosecone for a nuclear system" according to Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne. Wynne said the shipment was supposed to be helicopter batteries and is being investigated.
According to the joint Sino-USA communique of 1982:
"... the United States Government states that it does not seek to carry out a long-term policy of arms sales to Taiwan, that its arms sales to Taiwan will not exceed, either in qualitative or in quantitative terms, the level of those supplied in recent years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and China, and that it intends to reduce gradually its sales of arms to Taiwan, leading over a period of time to a final resolution."
It is time for the United States to live up to its agreements and honor the 1982 communique. The people of Taiwan spoke last weekend in a popular election and chose to move away from confrontation with Beijing. Unless it changes its actions and begins to honor its actual policy, the USA will act as provacateur and risk a nuclear standoff.
Labels: arms sales, china policy, minuteman, nuclear missles, pentagon, taiwan
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