China stories I'm watching
Of course, the bird flu thing. Though the Chinese government has denied earlier stories from the South China Morning Post that once a human case was reported, Chinese borders would be closed, there is still much to worry about here. Like, if Randy will make it home at Christmas. Or if our still-in-the-works trip for sometime in the first half of the year will get off the ground.
And of course, the recent trip to Asia by President Bush and Governor Schwarzenegger loom large. Because I was so frustrated with all the usual sources of news-CNN, MSNBC, FOX (yes, I even looked there)--and what they were reporting (or not reporting), I ended up subscribing to South China Morning Post, and English-language Hong Kong newspaper. We were treated to President Bush's hard-line speech he intended to deliver on Wednesday, but only the official advance text. This English-language paper Japanese paper reported some of the speech, and what they reported, in the past tense noting the location, pretty much matched the released text, so I don't doubt the speech happened as planned. But read it again. In the U.S., we were told it contained many harsh words for China, particularly bringing up Taiwan as the example of Good China. Read it again. On the third page, yes, there are a few paragraphs that say, China we wish you would do it our way, but he is still conciliatory towards China, encouraging even, with a You Can Do It approach that you give a struggling t-baller. His harshest words (deservedly) are for Burma (Myanmar-a name we don't recognize--and I'm not being political about that, just that the US does not officially recognize the name change because it was not changed by their legislature), contrasting it to Good China, which a paragraph ago was not-as-Good China.
Now, I am not criticizing the President for his remarks or intent. Please don't read what I wrote that way. But keep in mind that anti-China rhetoric plays well on all ends of the American political spectrum. Particularly when you note that this speech was not reported on at all in the South China Morning Post Online, and that their major headline today regarding the President's visit to Beijing is that it is expected he will be informed that the state purchasing agent is prepared to order 150 Boeing 737's, with an additional need to 400 more smaller short-haul jets. In addition, Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific is about to purchase 16 B777-300's. You might not be able to follow that link, but it is worth a shot. Reuters reports on the story in the SCMP here. The article I read does note
That was all in the SCMP.com. "Mr. Bush suggested....Politically
intrusive." Plays a lot differently in Asia, doesn't it? Not the CNN
or Fox News, look, he's going to say "Taiwan" and really piss off China, like saying "Jehovah" in a Monty Python sketch. No, more like, MYOB, man.
And is isn't just the President who is perceived to be on one mission in the US and another once he gets to China. The Governator was also in Asia on a Sino-California trade mission. Democrat or Republican, I have a hard time understanding how a U.S. state can enter into a "trade mission." That is the territory of sovereign states, or do I misunderstand? (BTW, Minnesota's Governor was there, too) Of course, with the defeats of his propositions earlier this month and major Republicans grumbling about him, maybe he needed to go somewhere where it isn't considered bad form for him to enjoy being a movie star again. U.S. News reports that Schwarzenegger is expected to tackle, be aggressive, be an action hero even when it comes to intellectual property theft. What is in the SCMP? The Governor is at an energy summit, saying things like, China and California have similar energy needs, and even holding up Solar Chips designed in the Silicon Valley and manufactured in China, calling them an "amazing China-California success story." (Reported Wed, 16 November--I can't link because I got it as an archive article. I have the PDF if you want to read the whole article.) Now, the US. rep to the WTO is talking turkey with respect to intellectual property rights, but SCMP.com is not reporting that Schwarzenegger is not being reported as being the
muscle on those discussions.
Oh yeah, one more Bush happened to be in China, too. Former President Bush was also in Beijing for a conference co-sponsored by the Bush School of Government and the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. Of his speech, the SCMP reports that this Mr. Bush "echoed the sentiments of the Chinese diplomats. He said Washington and Beijing shared common interests in areas such as preserving world order, promoting human rights and free trade, and preventing nuclear proliferation." Now, this Mr. Bush would have a real understanding about how much has changed in China in the past 30ish years. There may have been an old Vulcan proverb that "Only Nixon could go to China," But this Mr. Bush was right there, too, in China when it couldn't be bleaker. Today, though, has nothing but good things to say to his Chinese audience, including that the US and Chinese share an interest in human rights. Can you imagine if he had said that at a commencement speech in the US? In front of US TV cameras? No, the story isn't buried. You can see reports of it if you go through Yahoo news and have the right combinations of words, but it isn't trumpeted across the networks like the current President's remarks about how China needs to be more like Taiwan (and not that it would be since he isn't the sitting president and this was at a conference probably held in a Holiday Inn ballroom with bad AV, but he isn't saying it in America). And I don't think this is peculiar to the current president. If I had time and enough cash to buy the archives of the Chinese newspapers, you would see the exact same thing with President Clinton, I would wager.
What this exercise boils down to is that visible hard-ass approaches to China play very well in the U.S. You get the buy American folks, the free Tibet folks, Pat Buchanon isolationist folks, the liberal Christian Merton Center human rights folks, the conservative Christian anti-communist folks----the whole kit-n-kaboodle. You just have to say the right things, and bang, you are perceived taking a strong stance against China. Hello, approval rating.
Uh-huh.
And tomorrow, if this wasn't completely boring and incoherent, I got some more China stuff, this time some dumb stuff I heard on public radio, which is odd because even if I don't agree with what they are saying, I rarely call them dumb.
And of course, the recent trip to Asia by President Bush and Governor Schwarzenegger loom large. Because I was so frustrated with all the usual sources of news-CNN, MSNBC, FOX (yes, I even looked there)--and what they were reporting (or not reporting), I ended up subscribing to South China Morning Post, and English-language Hong Kong newspaper. We were treated to President Bush's hard-line speech he intended to deliver on Wednesday, but only the official advance text. This English-language paper Japanese paper reported some of the speech, and what they reported, in the past tense noting the location, pretty much matched the released text, so I don't doubt the speech happened as planned. But read it again. In the U.S., we were told it contained many harsh words for China, particularly bringing up Taiwan as the example of Good China. Read it again. On the third page, yes, there are a few paragraphs that say, China we wish you would do it our way, but he is still conciliatory towards China, encouraging even, with a You Can Do It approach that you give a struggling t-baller. His harshest words (deservedly) are for Burma (Myanmar-a name we don't recognize--and I'm not being political about that, just that the US does not officially recognize the name change because it was not changed by their legislature), contrasting it to Good China, which a paragraph ago was not-as-Good China.
Now, I am not criticizing the President for his remarks or intent. Please don't read what I wrote that way. But keep in mind that anti-China rhetoric plays well on all ends of the American political spectrum. Particularly when you note that this speech was not reported on at all in the South China Morning Post Online, and that their major headline today regarding the President's visit to Beijing is that it is expected he will be informed that the state purchasing agent is prepared to order 150 Boeing 737's, with an additional need to 400 more smaller short-haul jets. In addition, Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific is about to purchase 16 B777-300's. You might not be able to follow that link, but it is worth a shot. Reuters reports on the story in the SCMP here. The article I read does note
He [an unnamed Chinese airline executive) added that the deal had been in the works since mid-year but that the timing of the announcement could be affected by the comments Mr Bush made in Japan this week. Mr Bush suggested that Beijing could learn a lot from the burgeoning democracy in Taiwan, and mainland
officials may not want to be seen rewarding what they consider politically intrusive remarks.
That was all in the SCMP.com. "Mr. Bush suggested....Politically
intrusive." Plays a lot differently in Asia, doesn't it? Not the CNN
or Fox News, look, he's going to say "Taiwan" and really piss off China, like saying "Jehovah" in a Monty Python sketch. No, more like, MYOB, man.
And is isn't just the President who is perceived to be on one mission in the US and another once he gets to China. The Governator was also in Asia on a Sino-California trade mission. Democrat or Republican, I have a hard time understanding how a U.S. state can enter into a "trade mission." That is the territory of sovereign states, or do I misunderstand? (BTW, Minnesota's Governor was there, too) Of course, with the defeats of his propositions earlier this month and major Republicans grumbling about him, maybe he needed to go somewhere where it isn't considered bad form for him to enjoy being a movie star again. U.S. News reports that Schwarzenegger is expected to tackle, be aggressive, be an action hero even when it comes to intellectual property theft. What is in the SCMP? The Governor is at an energy summit, saying things like, China and California have similar energy needs, and even holding up Solar Chips designed in the Silicon Valley and manufactured in China, calling them an "amazing China-California success story." (Reported Wed, 16 November--I can't link because I got it as an archive article. I have the PDF if you want to read the whole article.) Now, the US. rep to the WTO is talking turkey with respect to intellectual property rights, but SCMP.com is not reporting that Schwarzenegger is not being reported as being the
muscle on those discussions.
Oh yeah, one more Bush happened to be in China, too. Former President Bush was also in Beijing for a conference co-sponsored by the Bush School of Government and the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. Of his speech, the SCMP reports that this Mr. Bush "echoed the sentiments of the Chinese diplomats. He said Washington and Beijing shared common interests in areas such as preserving world order, promoting human rights and free trade, and preventing nuclear proliferation." Now, this Mr. Bush would have a real understanding about how much has changed in China in the past 30ish years. There may have been an old Vulcan proverb that "Only Nixon could go to China," But this Mr. Bush was right there, too, in China when it couldn't be bleaker. Today, though, has nothing but good things to say to his Chinese audience, including that the US and Chinese share an interest in human rights. Can you imagine if he had said that at a commencement speech in the US? In front of US TV cameras? No, the story isn't buried. You can see reports of it if you go through Yahoo news and have the right combinations of words, but it isn't trumpeted across the networks like the current President's remarks about how China needs to be more like Taiwan (and not that it would be since he isn't the sitting president and this was at a conference probably held in a Holiday Inn ballroom with bad AV, but he isn't saying it in America). And I don't think this is peculiar to the current president. If I had time and enough cash to buy the archives of the Chinese newspapers, you would see the exact same thing with President Clinton, I would wager.
What this exercise boils down to is that visible hard-ass approaches to China play very well in the U.S. You get the buy American folks, the free Tibet folks, Pat Buchanon isolationist folks, the liberal Christian Merton Center human rights folks, the conservative Christian anti-communist folks----the whole kit-n-kaboodle. You just have to say the right things, and bang, you are perceived taking a strong stance against China. Hello, approval rating.
Uh-huh.
And tomorrow, if this wasn't completely boring and incoherent, I got some more China stuff, this time some dumb stuff I heard on public radio, which is odd because even if I don't agree with what they are saying, I rarely call them dumb.
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