The Obama administration seems to be spoiling for a fight with the Chinese. The chances are excellent that it would secure one. Since the commencement of the year, it has tweaked the tiger’s tail, not once or twice, but thrice and it may get more than it bargained for. A few months ago, Obama visited China, where he gushed about the importance of Sino-American relations and the one china policy.
Now he seems to be singing from a different hymn sheet. What must have caused this abrupt change of heart? Have the Republicans gotten to him? Bush, (43), made China baiting a sport by his persistent support and arming of Taiwan which Beijing considers to be a renegade province.
A few years into his Presidency, conflict was narrowly averted when an American Reconnaissance plane was intercepted in Chinese airspace and forced down.
I find the Republican U-turn on China quite perplexing. Were they not responsible for breaking the frosty relations with the Middle Kingdom? Henry Kissinger was the nexus between Washington and Beijing and is credited with Nixon’s visit to the reclusive state on Feb’1972.China became a bulwark against Russian expansionism and a bridge to the Western world.
Ronald Reagan realized the importance of China as a partner on the world stage and tried fervently to lobby it on matters of détente with Russia, nuclear proliferation and trade. On account of his charm and persuasion, the Chinese either abstained or voted with the Americans on most matters at the UNSC to the detriment of the Russians.
Bush, (41) maintained a middle course in his diplomacy with the Chinese. The mantra was that the Americans would not interfere in the “internal affairs” of a friendly nation. This was a tacit approval of the one china policy. Taiwan was a province of China, but China could not invade or occupy the renegade province.
To hammer home these sentiments, the American fifth fleet was stationed in the Pacific with the twin purpose of preventing and defeating a Chinese invasion of Taipei. If Taiwan was part of china, why defend it? Does this not contradict the American policy of a single china? Taiwan does not have a seat in the United Nations and has few or no embassies anywhere in the world, (apart from Liberia, the last time that I checked).
If the Chinese were to invade and occupy Taiwan, would the Americans risk an all out war with the Middle kingdom? War would be disastrous for all concerned. China may be defeated militarily, but the Americans will suffer economic ruin. China is the tail that wags the American dog. Wall Street and the Dow Jones are practically run from Hong Kong and Macau. When the Chinese panda sneezes, the Americans catch a cold.
Does the American policy on Taiwan not seem a tad like the don’t ask, don’t tell policy on gays in the American Military? If Taiwan was part of China, one would have presumed it right and proper for the Chinese to assert and take what belonged to them.
Turning a blind eye and pretending that the elephant does not exist in the room will boomerang on Washington and create more problems than solutions.
The White house has announced that the 44th President of the united states, Barack Obama would meet the Dalai Lama who is the spiritual and cultural head of the Tibetans.
Are the Americans also promoting secession of Lhasa from Beijing? I would have thought that the invasion and occupation of Tibet by China in 1951 was a fait accompli. Are the Americans hoping to reverse that?
Has the Dalai Lama not accepted the status quo? In recent comments and negotiations with the Chinese authorities, he has only sought autonomy over certain values of the Tibetan people. The argument that the Dalai Lama is a spiritual and cultural leader holds little water.
There are lots of chaps who fit the profile of the Lama who have not had the comfort of a meeting with the American President in the Oval Office. When the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church and Reverend Moon of the Unification church of South Korea next visit America, will the White house be inviting them for cups of espresso coffee and doughnuts?.
The ambiguous One China policy must be explained in clear terms. If Taiwan is part of the Chinese mainland, then the American fifth fleet must be withdrawn from the Pacific and a proper and dignified apology tendered to the Mandarins in Beijing.
If not, then the Americans must prepare for war. Knowing the mindset of the Chinese, they will never relinquish what they believe rightly belongs to them.
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