America needs continual Chinese investments
Mihir Oza
Issue date: 11/20/09 Section: Ed-Op
Obama is desperate. Born in Hawaii and having spent time in Indonesia, he is our first Pacific-ly in-tuned president. But he resembles dear old Jimmy Carter more than anyone else at this point. This past Sunday, Nov. 15, was his first visit to the largest lender to the United States-China. Typically our past leaders have visited the superpower in order to exhort our ideals of democracy, open economics, human rights, et cetera. But unfortunately, our country is not in the position it was once in.
During a three-day visit, Obama stopped in Beijing and Shanghai, wearing the hat of a pacifist, delivering "the message that the rapidly growing export-driven economies can no longer count on the U.S. consumer to keep them afloat," according to Jonathan Weisman of the Wall Street Journal. This surprised me, for it made me feel that we were bowing down to another power-but our country has a clever way of doing things. Admitting such a fact makes us appear honest and trustworthy-in a time when we need Chinese investments the most.
A health care bill including a public option is great for our citizens; however, Chinese officials could care less. Helene Cooper of the New York Times wrote that, "they wanted to know, in painstaking detail, how the health care plan would affect the deficit." Only then would China consider further investments. Regardless, America is always a worthy nation to plunge money into-if we weren't, the Chinese would not even take a second look at us.
Despite Obama's global reverence as the new face and nuance of U.S. power, the Chinese have seen past the Obama fever. He was in China strictly to reassure them that we are worthy of continual Chinese investment into the U.S. treasury debt-sort of how a farmer visits his old bank to persuade them that his next crop will deem fruitful. How much convincing can be done with good looks and a smile? You'd be surprised.
Besides money talks, Obama had another item on his agenda-freedom. In Shanghai, our president addressed Chinese students during a question-and-answer session at a town hall meeting. He faced issues about the Chinese government's restraints on Internet access and social networking. He said that the free flow of information in America "makes our democracy stronger and it makes me a better leader because it forces me to hear opinions that I don't want to hear." Oddly, his visit wasn't nationally broadcasted. President Hu Jintao's authority reigned upon the ceremony-the students "seem handpicked by the government and many were members of the Communist Youth League," Cooper and David Barboza of the New York Times said. Well, that's China for you.
During a three-day visit, Obama stopped in Beijing and Shanghai, wearing the hat of a pacifist, delivering "the message that the rapidly growing export-driven economies can no longer count on the U.S. consumer to keep them afloat," according to Jonathan Weisman of the Wall Street Journal. This surprised me, for it made me feel that we were bowing down to another power-but our country has a clever way of doing things. Admitting such a fact makes us appear honest and trustworthy-in a time when we need Chinese investments the most.
A health care bill including a public option is great for our citizens; however, Chinese officials could care less. Helene Cooper of the New York Times wrote that, "they wanted to know, in painstaking detail, how the health care plan would affect the deficit." Only then would China consider further investments. Regardless, America is always a worthy nation to plunge money into-if we weren't, the Chinese would not even take a second look at us.
Despite Obama's global reverence as the new face and nuance of U.S. power, the Chinese have seen past the Obama fever. He was in China strictly to reassure them that we are worthy of continual Chinese investment into the U.S. treasury debt-sort of how a farmer visits his old bank to persuade them that his next crop will deem fruitful. How much convincing can be done with good looks and a smile? You'd be surprised.
Besides money talks, Obama had another item on his agenda-freedom. In Shanghai, our president addressed Chinese students during a question-and-answer session at a town hall meeting. He faced issues about the Chinese government's restraints on Internet access and social networking. He said that the free flow of information in America "makes our democracy stronger and it makes me a better leader because it forces me to hear opinions that I don't want to hear." Oddly, his visit wasn't nationally broadcasted. President Hu Jintao's authority reigned upon the ceremony-the students "seem handpicked by the government and many were members of the Communist Youth League," Cooper and David Barboza of the New York Times said. Well, that's China for you.
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