There's an old adage that one should never attribute to maliciousness what can be explained by stupidity, and no administration has ever equaled the Bush Administration's ability to present a never-ending string of choices that deposits observers squarely on the horns of that stupidity-or-strategy? dilemma.The latest iteration of the Nelson Report observes that the visit of President Hu of China was one of many governments the Bush Administration has managed to offend over its short life. Another three years of this and the only governments that won't hate the US will be tribal chiefdoms deep in the heart of the highlands of Borneo. Some Greatest Hits from the Nelson Report:
HU VISIT FALLOUT...we are reliably informed that despite President Hu's apparently calm exterior, he and other top Chinese officials were irate, when the White House announcer intoned "and now, the national anthem of the Republic of China" the Secret Service stood by while a known Falun Gong demonstrator was not just cleared into the White House, but disrupted Hu's long-planned "live" TV back to the mainland, no Chinese flags were displayed near the White House, and other "mistakes" took place which we are sworn not to print.
Back in Beijing, Hu and his colleagues do not believe that the many protocol slights were mistakes...in fact, we are told, to both Hu and his enemies, the number and pattern of incidents would seem to confirm that all were deliberate.
American officials and commentators thus find themselves in the position of arguing that the truth is more embarrassing than simply letting the Chinese indulge in their conspiracy theory: the truth being that White House staff, including the Secret Service, really blew it...with the possible exception of clearing-in the Falun Gong demonstrator...more on that shortly.
The bottom line is that the Hu visit is seen by sources in Beijing as a potentially serious problem for future US-China relations precisely because the mistakes/slights seem deliberate. And whether true or not is now beside the point. Sources say that Hu is not just angry personally, but that the debacle at the White House has hurt him politically, since the far left of the CCP sees it as proof that Hu was foolish to trust the US, and to try and work with President Bush......
[snipped]
..........except that Acting Senior Director Dennis Wilder DID try to block the Falun Gong demonstrator from being cleared.
If that is in fact true, does it mean that some official in the White House took it upon him or herself to ignore, or over-rule the policy professional on China? This explanation would certainly be more comforting, in a sense, than the claim that the Secret Service just blew it.
But politically, it opens up a whole new line of concerns,...
Yes. The obvious concern is that our President is playing Ferris Bueller's Day Off with national security, the world economy, the global environment, and our relationships with other Powers. Without question the worst President in the history of the nation, and I suspect that what is yet to come will set new records.
[Taiwan] [US] [China]
11 comments:
I could imagine that letting in an Epoch Times journalist was deliberate: If anyone from China tried to suggest that Epoch Times shouldn't be allowed you can just see the White House saying "We're not giving in to those godless commies in our own back yard" and handing out a press pass just to make a point - which then blew up in their faces.
As for the others - I'm a big believer in the power of incompetence :)
Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next senior US visit to China!
this is totally SS's responsibility, not wang's.
the proper response is to trace the blame on SS, and perhaps a minor punishment on epoch times (eg no press permit for a few months).
the only party who is qualified to punish Wang is Epoch Times, not a US court.
david,
this is the revenge for the 'fake door' humiliation. dubya thought that was a conspiracy and decided to take revenge. :) beijing started this! at least this is what dubya thinks.
Bush constantly said througout his speech that The US and China can now speak candidly about issues since their relationship has blossomed. What was said by both presidents what alot of rhetotic. Hu Jin Toa for exaple, praised the American people for their innovation and economic prowess. Bush on the other hand commended the Chinese concerning their economic advancements. At the end of Hu Jin Tao's speech, he stated that American and Chinese can work together to maintain peace througout the world and the Asia Pacific region. What he failed to mention was that there are 800 missile pointed at Taiwan.
tclyde, I agree with you.
Peace from the commies? It's the same thing as signing the peace treaty with Hitler - worthless.
Hu got what he deserves, and people needs to stop thinking that China is the greatest market and manufacturer in the world; it's all ficitious because the economy is controlled, the society is controlled, freedom of speech, demonstration, gathering and religions is supressed. Hu wants a glorious welcoming from the Westerners? Brotha, pleeeease.
If we keep allowing China to be the bully on the block in Asia, it's no difference than dancing with the wolf.
Besides the 800+ missles pointing at Taiwan, how many unaccounted missles, nuclear and not, are aiming at Tokyo, Soul, London, Manila, Sydney, Los Angelas, San Fransisco, Vancouver, Frankfurt, Moscow, New Dehli and possibly Washington DC?
stop george,
yeah i saw the video of Stephen Colbert and thought it was hilarious. It must take some pretty large kahunas to stand in front of any president and let him know that he's doing a poor job. The crowd was so uncomfortable but I know Colbert was eating it all up.
Who writes the Nelson Report and is he or she part of some disinformation campaign? What are his or her credentials? Those NR comments seem "planted"..... which side is her or she working for?
(2)
I see who he is now: "Chris Nelson is editor of The Nelson Report, a daily briefing on international economic policy issues, foreign and security policy matters and their relationship to politics in Washington. This daily briefing constitutes the core element of PAID ***relationships*** with PAID ***clients*** who also have [direct] access to Mr. Nelson for [confidential] communications in response to their [specific] needs and policy interests."
This above ''sounds'' like the man is a paid lobbyist of the Chicoms. They buy a lot of PR firms in the US. He is not a journalist but a paid public relations handler, so he can plant info anytime and anywhere he wants.
Notice the emphasis on clients. His report is not to be trusted, other than as paid planted disinformation and diplomatic gossip to further his clients' agendas. Find out who he is working for first. Follow the money.
Says the NR is part of ''Samuels International Associates''. Does not sound like journalism to me but more like paid PR for intl clients, planted and placed stories to inform and disinform. What is this operation all about?
BIO: Christopher Nelson is Senior Vice President of Samuels International and Editor of The Nelson Report, a respected daily PR briefing for the Asia-focused international business and policy community. Mr. Nelson has been a professional journalist and congressional foreign affairs analyst with Washington experience since 1966. On Capitol Hill, Mr. Nelson specialized in U.S.-China relations (AHA!) during the Carter Administration’s normalization process, with service on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, as a Senior Advisor to Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd, and with the Senate Democratic Policy Committee. During that time, he traveled extensively throughout Asia and the subcontinent, with a focus on China, Japan, S Korea and Vietnam. His journalism career includes United Press International (New York) in the 1960s, and the Orlando (Florida) Sentinel in the 1970s. Nelson also served as a Press Secretary to two New York congressmen, one a Republican, the other a Democrat. Nelson holds a BA in history and political science from the University of California, Berkeley and did graduate studies in politics, developmental economics, and anthropology at McGill University, Montreal. Mr. Nelson is a civil war buff, with prominent credits as consultant to numerous books and movies. [He is a Civil War re-enactor as a private, Co. F, 2nd Rhode Island Infantry, USV.]
...and a civil war re-enacter. Tai hao!
Look, anon, Nelson has been doing this for years. He's a well-respected insider, critical but balanced, and he has the evidence that suggests either somebody planned the Wang affair from inside the WH, or there was a cataclysmic fuck up. I'm going for B right now, because I can't imagine how the thinking on A went:
SMITH: I think we should let this Wang woman kvetch at Hu, and then we can take her away.
JONES: What? Falun Gong is a bunch of nutters. You let her get next to Hu, and we have one, maybe two dead presidents on our hands. Not on your life.
There are easier ways to embarrass Hu than risking a suicide attack or similar.
The problem is that in the world of the peasant thinking that underlies Chinese thinking on events, things never happen by accident. They always happen for a reason. Crops die? You didn't make the right sacrifice. Business suffering? Change your feng shui. You have only daughters? You're being punished. Protester yell at your President? Must be a plan....
Michael
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