December
02 , 2005
Bush’s
Unproductive Visit to China
President Bush’s visit
to China in the third week of November was notable
in that it turned out to be unusually barren.
Normally, the visit of a US President produces some
defining outcome. For instance, President Nixon’s
1972 meeting with Chairman Mao signaled China’s
willingness to side with the US against the Soviet
Union. President Reagan’s visit in 1984 helped
consolidate China’s economic reforms. President
Clinton’s visit gave rise to the hope of political
reforms and the formation of an opposition party.
This was a noteworthy achievement as it followed
the ruthless suppression of dissidents at Tiananmen
Square.
This time, however, the Chinese were as usual very
polite but conceded little on almost all the items
on the agenda of President Bush, reflecting perhaps
the growing confidence of the Chinese and the indifferent
negotiating ability of the American team led by
President Bush. Unfavorable developments at home
might have derogated the American team’s confidence
despite the fact that the US is still the sole super
power of the world.
The Chinese side rejected the idea of a joint news
conference for the two leaders. According to the
reporters accompanying the President, the Chinese
side said that they could guarantee television coverage
for Mr. Bush only when he went bicycling with the
Chinese Olympic athletes. Earlier, the state-controlled
media in China ignored Mr. Bush’s speech in
Kyoto, Japan, on November 16 in which he cited the
Taiwan democracy as a model for the mainland.
Significantly, the Chinese leaders dispensed even
with the symbolic gestures that often accompany
American presidential visits. No political prisoners
were released to mark the occasion, as had been
done on previous US-China summits.
President Bush traveled to Busan, South Korea to
attend the 13th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) leaders’ conference on November 18-19.
Before the conference, he met the Japanese Premier
Koizumi in Kyoto on November 15 and the South Korean
President a couple of days later. Following the
APEC conference he went to Beijing for talks with
President Hu Jintao. From Beijing he flew to Mongolia
- the first of a US President to that country of
2.4 million people.
This was the third trip to China of President Bush.
And, as already mentioned above, there was little
evidence that it bore any fruit worth recording
by history, particularly in respect of the ‘freedom
agenda’ that constitutes the centerpiece of
his second term foreign policy.
The Chinese President made it quite clear by his
actions that he had no intention of giving in to
the US pressure. So much so that reports of fresh
moves against dissidents
kept surfacing even while the US President was on
Chinese soil.
The matter of violations of human rights was being
taken up “quite vociferously with the Chinese
Government, assured Condoleezza Rice, Secretary
of State. Washington Post, on the other hand, considered
“disappointing” Mr. Bush’s “light
touch with Mr. Hu”, since the Chinese President,
far from continuing a “transition to greater
freedom” during his three years in power,
had been moving his country towards stricter control.
“The Chinese media, academia, religious groups
and the local Internet”, remarked the Post,
“are all more tightly controlled now than
they were when Mr. Bush last visited China in 2002.”
And, there was no evidence that Mr. Bush could “vociferously”
take up the matter with his counterpart and even
if he did so it appeared to have had no impact.
On economic and trade issues too, that are of major
concern to American business whose interests hold
priority for Mr. Bush, progress was of no consequence.
Nor, was any concrete commitment made protecting
US intellectual properties from rampant piracy in
China. Likewise, no promise could be extracted from
the Chinese authorities for an upward revision of
the exchange rate of Yuan.
The Chinese President, however, agreed to press
ahead for reducing the $200 billion annual surplus
in trade with the US. Concrete measures even in
this respect were not spelled out.
The only notable achievement that emerged from the
talks was a $4 billion deal for China to buy 70
Boeing aircraft.
No wonder, Mr. Bush appeared to be quite tense during
his visit. After ending his brief meeting with reporters
accompanying him, he turned around and tried to
go out a door that was locked. “I was trying
to escape; it didn’t work”, he remarked.
Then he attributed it to jet lag.
Fact of the matter is the he has of late sustained
several setbacks. Throughout the trip abroad, his
mind was exercised by the lack of progress in pacifying
the Iraqis. This was exacerbated by the increasing
criticism at home of the reasons given by his administration
for launching the war. The Senate resolution passed
on November 15, while Mr. Bush was in Japan, calling
for drawing down of US troops and for quarterly
reports to the Congress of progress, was a virtual
rebuff to Mr. Bush on the war. Significantly, the
resolution had the backing of both parties. It was
a clear indication that they could no more be expected
to keep endorsing the Administration’s lead
on the war.
The flow of body bags, the unabated continuance
of the insurgency in Iraq, the unimpressive outcome
so far of the war on terror, the enormous outlays
on the conflict not only ate up the surplus left
behind by Clinton administration but created a huge
deficit adding further to the high pile of national
debt, the debatable tax cuts benefiting the rich,
the high cost of gas and energy, the indictment
of a top White House, aide, Lewis Libby, for perjury
and obstruction of justice, the debacle of the nomination
of Harriet Miers, the charge of slow move to cope
with Hurricane Katrina, and more recently, the closing
down of several General Motors plants and laying
off of 30,000 workers, have all combined to sink
President Bush’s popularity to 37 per cent.
His dwindling popularity at home must have impacted
his confidence in dealing with his Chinese counterpart.
In the US-China relations, the US is still the domineering
partner. It is still the Superpower. But, the Chinese
continue to build their own stature and self-confidence
as their economy expands and the US consumers keep
growing addicted to the inexpensive manufactures
of China.
Their voracious consumption habit – production
lagging far behind consumption - will eventually
topple the US from the pedestal of the sole superpower.
You can’t eat the cake and have it too. -
arifhussaini@hotmail.com
