Finally, Seeing Through The China Bashing BS

[doe-sun]

I found some articles that pick apart the racist China-bashing that's going on nowadays, and I just had to share.

..."a prosperous China is good for us all."
On China At Least, Nixon Was Right (http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050801&s=scheer0726)

There's also the hypocrisy of Unocal owning a ton of stuff in Asia, but the U.S. won't let China buy it back. And they also roast that jerk Lou Dobbs:
Chinese Shark Attack! (http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050718&s=henwood)

enjoy

[ahsingjai]

Yuan moves show a confident China
By Zhiqun Zhu

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/GG26Ad01.html

China's sudden decision last week to revalue the yuan slightly upward against the dollar, and define it in terms of a currency basket instead of dollars alone, sent shock waves across the globe. Days after the Chinese government's surprise announcement, people are still wondering why China acted when it did and what the consequences will be.

While many applauded China's latest policy shift as a positive first step toward establishing a completely convertible currency system, some are expecting more. Various international responses notwithstanding, the rise of the yuan tells us a lot about China's economy as well as China's foreign policy. No single factor can solely explain China's July 21 decision to appreciate the yuan by 2.1%, but the significance of the decision cannot be underestimated. What can we learn from the July 21 yuan appreciation?

First, China has its own timetable and agenda. Over the last couple of years, China's trading partners, especially the US, have piled pressure on the Chinese government to let the currency float freely. Some have argued that China has artificially kept the yuan undervalued - by as much as 40% - to make its exports less expensive and more competitive. After countless talks and discussions with Chinese officials, many economists and officials in the West became optimistic that China would appreciate its currency by at least 10% before the end of 2005. Then came China's de-pegging announcement last week, surprising most observers.

A closer look at recent Chinese foreign relations, especially US-China interactions, may suggest that the timing of China's decision is not accidental. In the aftermath of the publication of the US Defense Department's hawkish annual report on the PRC's military strength, Beijing leaders want to take the opportunity to demonstrate to the world that China is a responsible power, both militarily and economically. This is perhaps a subtle Chinese way of refuting the Pentagon report. Beijing leaders also want to distance themselves from Major General Zhu Chenghu, whose remark a week ago that China might resort to nuclear weapons in a war with the US over Taiwan created a diplomatic fallout in Beijing's relations with the United States and other countries. The implicit message in China's de-pegging decision is clear: China cares about its international image, but it will determine when and how to respond to international pressures and concerns.

Second, China has put the ball back in its critics' court. The heat has been on in the US and the EU to press China to move faster toward a free and fully convertible currency. Thus, China's latest move may help lower the temperature in the capitals of the United States and Europe. Interest rates, housing and automobile costs are not expected to rise soon in the US and EU, but shoes, clothing and other light-industry imports from China may become a little more expensive for Western consumers.

By raising the value of the yuan, China has partially answered the call of the West to be a more responsible economic player. But this action will not automatically reduce trade imbalances between China and its major trading partners. Trade is supposed to be a mutually beneficial business. The ball is now in the court of the US and EU: it is their turn to listen to and address China's legitimate concerns and abandon discriminatory, punitive trade policies toward China.

Third, China's move demonstrates its growing self-confidence. President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao needed to consolidate their power at home before taking action on the politically and economically sensitive yuan revaluation issue. But now that President Hu seems in firm control of the country, he has more room to maneuver. Beijing's growing confidence has been reflected by its policies toward Taiwan and the US, not just by the yuan revaluation action.

President Hu has invited and warmly received opposition party leaders from Taiwan and proposed a series of agricultural and economic policies beneficial to Taiwan. Beijing has even used the lovable panda in an attempt to break the stalemate in its relations with the ruling Democratic People's Party (DPP) in Taiwan. President Hu also promptly sent congratulatory telegraphs to Ma Ying-jeou and James Soong for their election and reelection as chairmen of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP), respectively.

On another front, after many behind-closed-doors diplomatic efforts mainly by China and South Korea, North Korea finally agreed to return to the six-party talks in Beijing scheduled for the week of July 25. This development added to China's confidence that it can play a crucial stabilizing role in Northeast Asia. The currency reform set this confident China on a path to greater financial independence and deeper integration with global markets.

Fourth, the yuan's revaluation opens up a new era of more active Chinese business activities in the world. The old currency system forced Chinese companies to pay more for imported oil, iron ore, and other products. A stronger yuan, while not necessarily decreasing trade imbalances with the US and EU countries, will help foreign companies compete with an avalanche of low-cost Chinese goods. But it will also make foreign assets cheaper for Chinese buyers, possibly prompting more takeover bids by Chinese companies like those launched recently for US oil company Unocal Corp and appliance maker Maytag Corp.

It appears likely that CNOOC's attempted purchase of Unocal will be blocked, by the US Congress or the CFIUS committee if not by Unocal shareholders, but more bids from Chinese companies to purchase foreign assets are expected in the near future as China continues to accumulate purchasing power. The Chinese are coming; are Americans and Europeans ready?

Finally, the yuan's appreciation is yet another sign of China's more mature diplomacy. It has been speculated by many writers that China's gesture to revalue the yuan may be President Hu Jintao's gift to President George W Bush before his state visit to Washington, DC in September. Of course, such a small token may not completely satisfy President Bush and members of US Congress, and US-China relations will not drastically improve because of this; but it nonetheless shows that Chinese diplomacy is becoming more mature: departing from more rigid practices in the past, the regime has learned to occasionally smooth the diplomatic wheel with economic butter.

In the final analysis, the yuan's revaluation represents the steady emergence of a China that is becoming more confident and mature in international politics and the international economy, and the impact of this will be felt long after the revaluation issue has faded from the headlines.

[yoMAMA]

good article.

kudos.

[Paradox]

There's a whole cottage industry set around China fear mongering. A few defense lobbyists, authors, public speakers, and contractors all stand to gain on the short term from creating this mythical boogeyman. Just look up "Bill Gertz" sometime on Amazon there's a few authors just like him that make quite a nice living from China bashing. Not all of them are paranoid cold war obsessed white men either.

[Napoleon Chynamite]

The U.S. always has to have an enemy, and the mainstream media has no trouble taking up the reins of the mechanisms of socialization.

[grimfan]

I'm as western as the next white guy you see, but sometimes I just wish a pan-Asian state would subject North America and Europe to the same kind of imperialistic bullshit that they put the whole world through the last few centuries. I seethe at the fact that many people's notion of a world with balanced power is one where the U.S. and the EU pass the ball back and forth, insuring that even in the new millennia, it's the old boys that still run the show.

Oops, I guess this makes me part of the Yellow Peril that will never assimilate into western society. I guess I should just work hard, never complain, watch my people get trashed, and endure all the free trade propaganda again and again.

[yoMAMA]

the world has a funny way of coming full circle.

[Martino]

I found some articles that pick apart the racist China-bashing that's going on nowadays, and I just had to share.

Nice articles, but I sincerely hope you knew all this stuff already.

the world has a funny way of coming full circle.

If humanity is lucky, we've got a few million years ahead of us. Plenty of time to see empires rise and fall.

Of course, as a westerner, Grimfan is praying for some foreign power to come along and oppress his descendants ....

[yoMAMA]

If humanity is lucky, we've got a few million years ahead of us. Plenty of time to see empires rise and fall.



well earth has about a few billion years left, then the sun will become a red giant and blow up and the entire planet earth will become a big raisin :tongue:

[hbar00]

well earth has about a few billion years left, then the sun will become a red giant and blow up and the entire planet earth will become a big raisin :tongue:

More like a walnut...

[yoMAMA]

Yahoo! News
China calls its rise an opportunity, not a threat

Wed Jul 27, 6:52 PM ET

China's rapid development is an opportunity rather than a threat to the world, a senior Chinese official said on Wednesday, seeking to stem a rising tide of anti-Beijing sentiment in the United States.

State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, in a speech, advised Americans not to "politicize" or "get emotional" about trade issues. He also said Beijing would improve intellectual property rights protections and promised to work with Washington to promote world peace.

Tang, who recently visited North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang as an envoy of Chinese President Hu Jingtao, also predicted the Korean peninsula eventually would be peacefully reunified.

Experts said his remarks to a luncheon sponsored by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and the U.S.-China Business Council broke little new ground but was clearly an attempt by Beijing to portray a benign face.

Anti-China sentiments have been rising, mostly in the U.S. Congress, over worries about Beijing's expanding economic might, its growing trade surplus with the United States and a steady military buildup.

"China's development is an opportunity instead of a threat to the world. That is becoming the consensus of the international community," Tang said.

"The more China gets developed, the more it can contribute to world peace, stability and prosperity and the more opportunities it can bring to the rest of the world," he said.

With China now the United States' third largest trading partner and fastest growing export market, frictions are expected but the two sides must "work out the problems with equal-footed consultations and strive for a win-win result," Tang said.

"To politicize trade issues or to get emotional about them does not help solve problems," he added.

Tang said China does not strive for a prolonged trade surplus with the United States and is determined to make good on its World Trade Organization commitments .

"The Chinese government attaches great importance to IPR (intellectual property rights) protection and will step up measures in this regard," he said.

Tang, in Washington to help prepare for Hu's visit to the United States later this year, met Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday. The agenda included trade, the WTO, Taiwan and the fourth round of six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program now under way in Beijing.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack described the meeting as a good one and said Rice "underscored the importance of China maintaining its WTO obligations, as well as looking out for intellectual property rights issues."

On North Korea, the two officials "compared notes" on what has taken place at the Beijing talks, McCormack said.

Answering questions after his speech, Tang said the United States and China had a shared duty and responsibility to ensure the six-party talks produce "real progress" in this round and advance regional stability.

He expressed confidence that ultimately, the Korean peninsula will realize its independent and peaceful reunification but complained that Taiwan was blocking Beijing's friendly overtures, including not allowing the communist mainland to give the self-ruled island a gift of pandas.

Copyright © 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
Copyright © 2005 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
Questions or Comments
Privacy Policy -Terms of Service - Copyright/IP Policy - Ad Feedback

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050727/wl_nm/china_usa_adviser_dc