Sunday, February 7, 2010

A New Cold War With China?

Barack Obama tours the Great Wall of China at Badaling.
Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters


China’s Hawks Demand Cold War On The US -- Times Online

MORE than half of Chinese people questioned in a poll believe China and America are heading for a new “cold war”.

The finding came after battles over Taiwan, Tibet, trade, climate change, internet freedom and human rights which have poisoned relations in the three months since President Barack Obama made a fruitless visit to Beijing.

According to diplomatic sources, a rancorous postmortem examination is under way inside the US government, led by officials who think the president was badly advised and was made to appear weak.

In China’s eyes, the American response — which includes a pledge by Obama to get tougher on trade — is a reaction against its rising power.

Read more ....

My Comment: As one who has been traveling to China since the mid 1980s, I have had many a debate with my Chinese hosts on politics, economics, and foreign policy. But now it is not so easy to debate my Chinese friends .... I have also become a critic of US foreign policy under President Obama.

But a return to a cold war type of situation .... I have my doubts on this possibility. There is too much at stake and the onus is still to negotiate and compromise on our differences. If I have a concern, it is on the Chinese economy. It is over inflated, and the Chinese housing bubble is huge. What works in their favor are their enormous US dollar reserves .... this is their ace in the hole .... but this ace in the hole is also predicated on stable relations with the US.

1 comment:

MessageForce said...

China as a world power is rising very quickly and therefore it is obvious that it would have conflicts with the rest of the world. I hope this issue resolves as soon as possible.