Chinese President Visits the U.S.: Can America Accept the Economic Reality of a Prosperous China?
Most Americans are beyond the images of George Orwell’s ‘1984’ in which on a single news reel scene the enemy is now your friend and your ally is now your enemy. This week the President of China, Hu Jintao, comes calling. On the screen in Times Square will be running a commercial featuring a progressive and prosperous China with a calling card message to the world, “Here we are on the world stage. We have come to stay.”
The new China is a strange mix of remnants of many historically significant cultures of both civility and cruelty. Modern China was birthed in the womb of early attempts at Asian colonization by European powers, by participation in two world wars as foreign powers controlled her participation and the resulting communist resistance and finally the adoption of economic capitalism held firmly in the grasp of a totalitarian oligarchy.
Americans are afraid of this powerful figure on the world stage. They like what they see of themselves in her resurgence- the generation of prosperity by allowing capitalistic market forces exploit vast market potential. Americans fear what they can’t see in her- the capacity to care about the basic rights of the billion people within her borders and the model she espouses to those in her sphere of influence.
Others immediate concerns about the new China monolith- trade, currency manipulation, protective walls to the Chinese market while surging into the completive global economic arena. Can China ever truly be an ally to the West or must it always be the competitive opposition in war and in peace?
The week ahead will be one of proposed measures and counter measures. Part of the Democratic Party agenda is to confront China and other countries on the issue of artificial currency management that hinders free trade make that U.S. Trade advantages. Americans know well the stamp “Made in China”. Will Chinese adapt as well to “Made in the U.S.A.”? China’s small business operations are thriving while the U.S. small to midsize enterprises are sitting in the penalty box waiting to go back out on the global ice. This is the top issue according to the U.S. Business and Industry Council.
Hu has in the past responded to the U.S. power play bluff by calling for an end to what he calls a ‘zero sum cold war mentality’. U.S. Defense Secretary, Robert Gates recently questioned China’s intentions and motives as increasing expenditures are funneled into military spending on offensive power projecting weaponry.
On the plus side is that the various items of concern for both China and the West are being laid on the table side by side where profitable negotiations must begin. Current issues relate to North Korea, Iran, closer and clearer military communication, and the ever present elephant in the room, HUMAN RIGHTS.
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