I was reading Billy’s latest post on China – he’s had several in recent months – and my thoughts on the subject of the original Dragonland turned a bit long winded to put in his comments, so I’m going to set them down here.
I think it’s fair to say that Bill’s opinion of the People’s Republic of China is, ummm, slanted to the negative. He called China’s ambassador to the United States a “Dirty Commie scumbag.” I may be misinterpreting that, but I don’t think it was a compliment.
In some ways I concur with the Peoria Pundit in his negative assessment of China and its Communist Party. Is China a glowing bastion of civil rights, responsive democratic governance and freedom of speech? Hardly … I absolutely agree. I remember Tiananmen Square. I know about the cultural annihilation being perpetrated in Tibet and Uyghuristan. I’ve read about the persecution of Falun Gong. I’m disturbed by the summary executions, medical experimentation, organ harvesting and forced labor that occurs within the Chinese prison system. I’m not denying that the Communist Party of the PRC is a tyrannical oligarchy guilty of many crimes against the Chinese people.
However, while the Chinese government has a very long way to go, I would argue that progress is being made. The hardliners involved in the decision to crush the students at Tiananmen have either died or been sidelined – without the public introspection and reckoning of justice that needs to occur, but sidelined nonetheless. China today is much more open and less repressive than at any time since the Communist Party took control. The situation there is certainly much improved over the pogroms of the Cultural Revolution.
There is no denying that millions of Chinese are now enjoying an essentially middle class lifestyle that didn’t even exist in China before Deng Xiaoping started opening up the economy in the 1980’s. These improvements within China – mainly economic but also political – have occurred predominantly in an atmosphere of engagement with the West, not Cold War antagonism.
Should the U.S. take a harder line against China? Rattle our sabers at them a bit more? Pull a reverse Cuban Missile Crisis on the Commies and put nukes on Taiwan? While that might be viscerally satisfying, would it truly be constructive and improve the lives of the average Chinese or American citizen?
I personally think the last thing we need is another Cold War, especially since our government has already declared a perpetual War on Terror. Any “rattling our sabers” at this point is really just a bunch of noise … and the Chinese know it. The sharp edge of our military is busy dulling itself in the sands of Iraq – carving up “terrorists” and watching ten new enemies of America replace every one that we kill because we’re just perpetuating the ancient cycle of vendetta that’s ruled that part of the world for all of recorded history. Threats are worse than useless when you don’t have the ability to back them up, and our military manpower is already stretched dangerously thin.
Do we keep a sharply critical eye on the human rights situation in China and maintain pressure for change? Absolutely. Should we recklessly and heedlessly insult, threaten and antagonize the Chinese, fomenting another Cold War? Absolutely not.
The Cold War forced morally questionable policy decisions on the United States in the name of defying communism. We supplied and trained terrorists like Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. We actively took down democratically elected governments in Guatemala and Iran, condoned the downfall of a democratically elected government in Chile and supported dictators in the Philippines, Zaire, Indonesia and many other nations. More recently, the War on Terror has spawned domestic spying programs, the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the Guantanamo Bay detention center and Abu Ghraib.
That’s the face of America that belligerence and war mongering brings us … and it’s very, very ugly. Is that the face of America we want to present to the world? I say no.
Our primary foreign policy goals should be expanding democracy, defending human rights and freeing markets for trade. Straight talk on China’s human rights record is fine – I’ve got no arguments there. However, I don’t think that should translate into a more aggressive and militaristic anti-China policy and a second Cold War. Between the Crook, the Gipper and Dubya (and King George’s keepers – the Rifleman and the Red Eminence), I’ve had enough saber rattling for a lifetime, thank you. It’s time to act like grown-ups instead of hot-headed adolescents.
8 responses so far ↓
1
Billy Dennis
// Jun 9, 2007 at 4:18 pm
Oh, sweet Jesus. China isn’t all that bad, but the United States is the one nation that ought to be apologizing for it’s behavior.
That’s classic.
2
knightindragonland
// Jun 10, 2007 at 3:23 am
Where did I say that China is not “all that bad”? I’m pretty sure I gave an extensive list of some rather nasty crimes against humanity. I just said they’re improving.
My main point is that I don’t think a more militaristic approach to China will improve things for the Chinese people. In fact, I believe just the opposite would be true. A more aggressive stance toward China would embolden and empower hardliners in the Chinese government and military.
And yes, we should be apologizing for our bad behavior. We’re supposed to be the good guys, remember? We’re supposed to be this shining beacon of freedom and democracy. I’m sick of the excuse that it’s OK for us to act like tyrants just because our enemies are bad people. Feh.
3
Roy
// Jun 10, 2007 at 8:47 am
Obviously KID is from a young generation who’s main history teacher was and is the ACLU, Public TV, CNN, etc. Yes, the U.S. makes mistakes, but mosty all for the right reasons, trying to promote serious democracy. The trillions of forign aid dollars speaks volumes, action vs words. China will take advantage of our understaffed and weak military, brought on by shallow thinkers, in the near future.
4
Jonathan Ahl
// Jun 10, 2007 at 4:01 pm
KiD:
You are missing the most important thing in the current attitude of foreign relations: Everything must be black or white. There is no nuance. There are no complexities. Either a country is our enemy, horrible, and the devil incarnate, or they are our friend, capabale of no wrong.
When will you get with the picture and just print lists of friends and enemies, and stop these silly posts that suggest there are a million shades of grey?
5
knightindragonland
// Jun 10, 2007 at 10:10 pm
Roy,
My lessons in history come from a myriad of sources … mostly good old fashioned books. I will admit to being a fan of public television and public radio. I find the publicly supported forms of those media to be far superior to the commercial formats where all you get are idiotic talking heads producing quick sound bites on erudite topics like the inane antics of Paris Hilton and “who’s the baby-daddy” of Anna Nicole Smith. I’m not sure what the ACLU has to do with teaching history …
Please, Roy … if you have some font of knowledge to which I do not have access, please share.
We make mistakes for the right reasons. Hmmmmm. OK, if that’s true, could you please explain to me the “right reasons” for torture? Our government is doing things that we executed and imprisoned German & Japanese officers for after World War II. Waterboarding earned one Japanese officer 15 years of hard labor. I guess he didn’t have the “right reasons”, huh?
While you’re at it, perhaps you could also explain the “right reasons” for kidnapping and threatening the 6 and 8 year old CHILDREN of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Oh well … I’m sure those little bastards deserved it. We must have had the “right reasons.”
Our foreign aid budget is a tiny fraction of our military budget, Roy. Military expenditures account for about 20% of our total budget – 1/5 of the largest budget on Earth, creating by far the largest military budget on the planet.
In contrast, non-military foreign aid accounts for about 0.2% of our total budget. We spend 100x as much on preparing to kill people as we spend on trying to help people.
China will try to take advantage of our “weak” military? It may very well be true that China will take advantage of the current military situation … but it will be because we’re bogged down in the middle of a civil war in Iraq and our military manpower is exhausted and overstretched.
We do agree on one thing, Roy … George Bush is quite the shallow thinker. I wholeheartedly agree.
Jonathan,
I’m certain you’re correct. Silly me.
6
BJ Stone
// Jun 14, 2007 at 10:33 pm
Jonathan – well done, sir. Very nice! That pretty much sums it up.
7
BJ Stone
// Jun 14, 2007 at 10:35 pm
KiD, good post. You did indeed give a sustantial list of Chinese evil-ness. I’m sick of some of our actions, too. Lots of Americans are.
Just not many in Central Illinois.
)
8
Heywood Jabuzzoff
// Jun 27, 2007 at 1:34 pm
While y’all are considering KiD’s little rhetorical strawman, you might also consider Lincoln’s take on the golden rule; ‘Just as I would not be a slave, I would not own one.’ OK,now, back to Walmart.