China too big to be bullied
Some rightwing commentators claim the US and China are already at war, if not yet in the conventional sense, and accuse Obama of naivety.
Simon Tisdall
White House talks between Barack Obama and China`s president, Hu Jintao are not just any old summit. The former US national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski summed up the mood, describing the meeting as "the most important top-level US-China encounter since Deng Xiaoping`s historic trip more than 30 years ago". As some in China and the US see it, the choice boils down to one of future war or peace.
Facing critical public, congressional and business scrutiny, Obama is under pressure to stand up for US interests and obtain tangible results. The past year brought a series of public clashes, reinforcing a growing US belief that China was swapping its designated role as strategic partner for that of strategic rival. Specific issues - Beijing`s supposed unfair trade practices and intellectual property theft, US arms sales to Taiwan and South China Sea security disputes, the attempted gagging of Google, and the continued detention of the Nobel peace prize winner Liu Xiaobo - raised the bilateral temperature, sometimes to boiling point. Standard
Some rightwing commentators claim the US and China are already at war, if not yet in the conventional sense, and accuse Obama of naivety. Through currency manipulation, commercial attrition and expanding overseas investment, Hu is pursuing "war by other means", said Irwin Stelzer in the Weekly , adding: "The communist regime sees trade policy as merely one strategic weapon in a war aimed at overtaking the US as the world`s pre-eminent economic and military power." He cited the boast of China`s defence minister, General Liang Guanglie, that "in the next five years our military will push forward preparations for military conflicts in every strategic direction".
While firmly rejecting war analogies, the White House knows it has a fight on many fronts - economic, political, ideological. Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state, said last week that relations had reached a crucial juncture: "It is up to both nations to translate the high-level pledges of summits and state visits into action. Real action, on real issues."
Tim Geithner, the treasury secretary, Robert Gates at defence and Obama himself have all joined Clinton in setting out what the US expects from China. Their shopping list includes fuller co-operation on nuclear proliferation and climate change, stronger support on specific problems such as Iran and North Korea, and a more "responsible" exchange rate policy. White House aides say Obama also plans to publicly step up pressure on human rights.
Obama met leading US-based Chinese human rights advocates last week, discussing how best to influence attitudes from within.
The problem with America`s exhortatory approach is that it rarely works. Clinton admitted that Beijing resented such interventions as an infringement of sovereignty. This unpalatable reality reflects a bigger truth: the US must stop trying to tell China what to do. China is too big to be bullied, too canny to be conned, too complicated to be changed from without. And it cannot sensibly be blamed for America`s declining global clout.
