It was a mixed reception for China’s President Hu when he visited the United States last week. Like all politicians, he highlighted our shared interests and downplayed the giant pandas in the room: fair trade and human rights. We owe China so much money that most Americans were relieved he did not start foreclosure proceedings.
We dance a delicate dance with China, especially on human rights and the way dissidents are treated there. It is like you know your landlord is beating his wife, but you are so late on the rent that you are afraid to broach the subject.
On human rights, Hu said “China needs to do more in that area.” If only he knew a totalitarian president of that country who could effect some change, my guess is that he might get something done. Just like Obama’s “State of the Union” speech: all you have to do is act like you are doing something.
The motto of the Chinese government is, “We are with you, even when you think we are not!” Lack of privacy and an overbearing government are the way of life in China. And government officials there are known to be very corrupt, another thing copied from America in China’s usual, cheap, knock-off fashion.
China would not allow Google in for fear of the freedom it would afford its citizens. They would not even allow Bob Dylan songs to be played since Dylan’s songs are so politically charged. Or it could be that Chinese interpreters, like Americans for the past 30 years, could not understand what Dylan was singing.
After visiting D.C., Hu visited Chicago and our most powerful leader, Oprah. He also got to visit with the most downtrodden of Americans, who have suffered inhumane indignities for over a hundred years: Cubs baseball fans.
For the kids out there, let me sum up China for you. When they were communists, they wanted to annihilate America. Now that they are “state capitalists,” they want to own the U.S., and they are well on their way to realizing their goal. If Ronald Reagan had known the communists would beat us at our own game of capitalism, he would have said in Berlin, “Mr. Gorbachev, build this wall bigger!”
Then there is our nuclear capacity, which keeps China’s attention. The USA has about 5,000 nuclear missiles. Twenty percent are aimed at China; another twenty percent, or about 1,000, are pointed at Russia. The good news for China and Russia is that, since Obama and the Democrats took office, the other sixty percent of our nukes have been aimed at Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly and corporate America.
Obama loves China and China loves Obama. He envies the Chinese government’s control over every aspect of its citizens’ lives. He just does not like the fact that what drives China now is capitalism. Obama is so loved in China that they produced a sex doll of him. Folks feel good about themselves for buying it, but the positions it takes are not good for them long-term.
One has to respect how China has kicked our butts for the last 25 years. Even now, because of all the regulation in America, business opportunities abound in less bureaucratic countries, and capital flows there. If you do not agree, consider the recent Facebook offering that was made to only foreign investors because our regulations and the costs of registering the deal in the United States were too high. In short, Facebook “de-friended” the U.S. capital markets because we are too difficult to comply with for business deals. If we do not change, business will continue to flee to more accommodating shores.
We must maintain a good relationship with China, both as a trading partner and as a military friend. Japan and China share our concerns about the bombastic Kim Jong Il’s military ambitions for North Korea. Japan for sure, and maybe China, would join to launch an attack on North Korea if need be. That would be good, because, unlike Americans, they can tell them apart.
I have long said that capitalism and shared military interests are more important to maintaining a relationship with a country than trying to nation-build (Iraq) or proselytizing people to your religion. China has a real interest in the USA, much like a loan shark has an interest in his clients staying healthy so they can pay off their debts. Capitalism really brings us together!
Ron Hart is a syndicated op-ed humorist, author and TV/radio commentator. Email Ron@RonaldHart.com or at visit RonaldHart.com