Thursday, November 29, 2007
China's Response
So the Global Times quoted a Chinese naval captain giving his equivalent of the line I have often said about US-Russia relations--that it is unrealistic for us to expect Moscow to support us fully on an issue that matters to us while we can pursue a course of action that Russia perceives to be hostile to its interests at no cost.
“After the U.S. seriously harms China’s interests, it still asks for an embrace from China. There is no reason in the world for us to do so.”
Flynt Leverett, in the forthcoming issue, looks at one area where increasingly the U.S. will need an "embrace" from the Chinese, the Russians and the Saudis--the position of the dollar.
Also interesting the pretty strong reaction from Beijing challenging the White House version of events around why U.S. naval vessels were denied access to Hong Kong. From the New York Times:
China denied permission for a United States aircraft carrier battle group and other American warships to visit Hong Kong last week because of the Bush administration’s proposal to sell upgrades to Patriot antimissile batteries to Taiwan, Chinese state media said today.
Beijing also said today that Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi had not told President Bush in a meeting Wednesday that the decisions to deny the ship visits were a “misunderstanding,” as the White House had reported after the talks.
“Reports that Foreign Minister Yang said in the United States that it was a misunderstanding do not accord with the facts,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao, said in Beijing today, adding that China had “grave concern” over United States weapons sales to Taiwan.
Mr. Liu said that Mr. Bush’s meeting with the Dalai Lama in Washington in October had also damaged ties between the two countries.
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(On the reference then to the Dalai Lama visit, it suggests that my thesis that the "trade" of the Dalai Lama visit to Washington in return for President Bush going to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing may not be accurate, or perhaps from Beijing's view, not sufficient).
“After the U.S. seriously harms China’s interests, it still asks for an embrace from China. There is no reason in the world for us to do so.”
Flynt Leverett, in the forthcoming issue, looks at one area where increasingly the U.S. will need an "embrace" from the Chinese, the Russians and the Saudis--the position of the dollar.
Also interesting the pretty strong reaction from Beijing challenging the White House version of events around why U.S. naval vessels were denied access to Hong Kong. From the New York Times:
China denied permission for a United States aircraft carrier battle group and other American warships to visit Hong Kong last week because of the Bush administration’s proposal to sell upgrades to Patriot antimissile batteries to Taiwan, Chinese state media said today.
Beijing also said today that Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi had not told President Bush in a meeting Wednesday that the decisions to deny the ship visits were a “misunderstanding,” as the White House had reported after the talks.
“Reports that Foreign Minister Yang said in the United States that it was a misunderstanding do not accord with the facts,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao, said in Beijing today, adding that China had “grave concern” over United States weapons sales to Taiwan.
Mr. Liu said that Mr. Bush’s meeting with the Dalai Lama in Washington in October had also damaged ties between the two countries.
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(On the reference then to the Dalai Lama visit, it suggests that my thesis that the "trade" of the Dalai Lama visit to Washington in return for President Bush going to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing may not be accurate, or perhaps from Beijing's view, not sufficient).
