National Security Advisor, Stephen Hadley called Bush skipping the olympic opening ceremonies “a cop out.” I just love the NewSpeak being spouted by him. Expressing displeasure is a cop out. Of course this administration has raised NewSpeak to a level that even George Orwell couldn’t have dreamed. But let’s focus on the real issue here, that “quiet diplomacy” works.
We won’t really count the years prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union since sino-us relations were primarily concerned with keeping the Soviet’s off balance. So let’s look at the past 20 years. After Tiananmen, the world withdrew from China. Normalized relations were disrupted. China was an outcast once again. Then something strange happened. The Chinese government opened itself up for multinational corporations to establish factories there. The Chinese economy grew. The multinationals, and their puppets in Washington, spread the line that by the Chinese people will get richer, buy our stuff, and then since they have things will want to exert political power along with purchasing power, and then China will transform itself into a modern democracy. Of course that didn’t happen. The Chinese people are now better better off materialistically than they ever have been, but political change hasn’t happened. The American people never got what they wanted, democratic reforms. Instead, we’re told to “be patient.” Meanwhile the United States continued to deindustrialize, leaving us with very few things to actually sell the Chinese. Those that are left, like tech companies, ironically shore up the very regime that selling products is supposed to undermine. Of course I’m talking about American companies constructing the Great Firewall of China. Great.
“Be patient.” As it has become clear that Free Trade is was bill of goods sold to the American people, we’re supposed to not believe that anything is wrong. That everything is going swimmingly. That we have the Chinese, right where we want them. We’re in such a position of strength, our government can’t do show any displeasure at all. As Hadley said on ABC this morning:
“We have a lot of leverage on the Chinese. We are using it in a constructive, diplomatic way. And it’s a lot greater leverage than just the issue of whether he goes to an opening ceremony or not,” Hadley said. “The whole international community has leverage. They ought to be using it now, not letting themselves off the hook by simply saying, ‘Well, we won’t go to the opening ceremonies.”‘
To which I respond: HA!
