Only white commies are the demagogue's friends ... not the Asian ones!

The horrible human being and his minions are only a week away from taking control of the executive branch of the government, thanks to the unprincipled Republican voters who lovingly licked his golden boots and voted for him!

The morons have already ruffled more than a few geopolitical feathers.  Especially with China--the country whose name the demagogue often pronounced during the campaign as if it sounded like a short for woman's genitals!  The only difference is that he loves those genitals so much that he grabs them when can!

The guy in his cabinet who will be the face of the country to the rest of the world--a slippery oil man--said a few things during his confirmation hearings that have pissed off the Chinese.  In response, let me quote this China expert:

Normally, you would take these as childish antics that diplomats love to indulge in. Unfortunately, not so with China. One of the sad facts of Chinese society is that jingoism has been so drilled into the population that almost everybody seriously believes that the Chinese have been oppressed throughout history and that everybody is out to get them even now. With a highly controlled media, and no access to world perspectives, this is being fanned to a massive degree by the Communist Party. Look at the hatred of Japanese that has been whipped by a few rocks in the sea where not even goats live . So as long as this dangerous nationalism exists, China is always a threat.

That quote is this friend-debater's response to my post from November 2012.

While I have been only a China-watcher, he has lived there for years and continues to follow the political developments.  I assume he throws ping-pong and cricket balls at the screen when he hears the morons dump on China.

Anyway, the oil man who headed the company that systematically engaged in climate change denialism opened his big fat mouth in the Senate:

Tillerson told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday that China’s multibillion-dollar island-building campaign in the oil-and-gas rich sea was illegal and “akin to Russia’s taking of Crimea.”
“We’re going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops,” Mr. Tillerson told the senators. “And second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed.”
Should those words be translated into action after Donald J. Trump assumes the presidency on Jan. 20, it would be a remarkable change in the American approach to Beijing’s island-building in the South China Sea

Of course the oil man is interested in that part of the world--it has lots of oil and natural gas.  Which is why India too got into all that pissing match, remember?  Will keep that discussion for another day.  For now, the focus on China; its media responded as my China-watcher friend would have predicted:

It is not clear which point, among the many he made, he will prioritize. But it is worth looking at his remarks that China should not be allowed access to the islands, since this is the most radical statement from the US side so far.
China has enough determination and strength to make sure that his rabble rousing will not succeed. Unless Washington plans to wage a large-scale war in the South China Sea, any other approaches to prevent Chinese access to the islands will be foolish.
... As Trump has yet to be sworn in, China has shown restraint whenever his team members expressed radical views. But the US should not be misled into thinking that Beijing will be fearful of their threats.
Tillerson's statements regarding the islands in the South China Sea are far from professional. If Trump's diplomatic team shapes future Sino-US ties as it is doing now, the two sides had better prepare for a military clash.

And then there is Taiwan!

Have a nice day, you crazy Republicans!

A Canadian Univ honors the Dalai Lama. So, China bans the univ.

The White House kowtowing to China over the Tibet/Dalai Lama issue is not anything new.  And with the strained Sino-US relations--recently over Taiwan, the currency, Iran's nukes--, I suppose China sees an opportunity to up its rhetoric.
But, to aim its guns at a university?  And that too in Canada? Over the university honoring the Dalai Lama?  Yep,  that is what happened:

China has taken the University of Calgary off its list of accredited universities, most likely because it gave the Dalai Lama an honorary degree last September when he visited Calgary, according to the Calgary Herald. The university has about 600 students from China and is trying to find out what the sanction means for graduates who are back in China, as well as for current students. ... The Tibetan spiritual leader did not go to the campus but received the degree at the start of a conference in the city.

How are the Sino-US relations? Answer in a graphic!

Ah, the humor in the Economist :)

China, America, and tensions

We forget that before 9/11, which was fateful in many ways all across the world, the US-China relations were absolutely tense.  Remember the military incident on China's Hainan Island?  PBS' Frontline had a fantastic piece on the importance of this a couple of years ago.  That was in April 2001--only a couple of months into Bush's presidency.  It seemed like the decade would be one of economic, political, and military confrontation with China.

Everything changed only a few months later, on September 11th.  In the nearly seven years since the Hainan Island incident, China has become one money-generating machine from which America borrowed like crazy.  Taiwan, which was the reason why that Hainan incident happened, became a far less important issue compared to Al-Qaeda, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, North Korea.

Now, all these geopolitical issues have not gone away.  But, we seem to be starting the new presidential administration with a warning shot to China.  Only, this time it is not at all about Taiwan, but about China's economic policies.  

The Washington Post reports:

As Timothy F. Geithner moved closer yesterday to confirmation as Treasury secretary, he signaled a more confrontational approach toward China, bluntly stating that the new administration thinks Beijing is "manipulating" its currency and it will act "aggressively" using "all the diplomatic avenues" to change China's currency practices.

James Fallows, who has written extensively on China, is not at all happy with this memo to China.  He writes:

we've got a situation where a journalist (moi-meme) is listening to a renowned expert and wondering, Can he possibly believe that things are as simple and bald as what he's just said?

The expert in question is our old friend Timothy Geithner, who when he was not being grilled about his tax problems today was saying (in his written answer to questions) that China is"manipulating" its currency. Oh my. Where do we start with this.

- That the Chinese government manages the value of the RMB against the US dollar and other currencies is not an accusation but an observation of universally-accepted plain fact. Until about three years ago, the RMB's value was flat-out pegged against that of the dollar, at a rate of just over 8:1.  Was that "manipulation"? Yes, in the same sense that the yen was for years "manipulated" at a steady rate against the dollar, or perhaps in the sense that the US "manipulates" its national borders by controlling them. 

Fallows goes on to list many more wonderful points, before concluding:

I lack the energy to go any further down this list, and this is enough to make the point. These are just a tiny few of the factors that go into any US government consideration of how the RMB/dollar relationship affects the economies of both countries. And to boil it down to the bald assertion that "China is manipulating its currency" ignores, vulgarizes, and misconstrues a lot more than it clarifies. 

Hey, it seems to be a strange new year (year of the ox) greeting from the US!