China’s leaders have been accused of delivering a calculated diplomatic snub to Barack Obama after the US president was not provided with a staircase to leave his plane during his chaotic arrival in Hangzhou before the start of the G20.
Chinese authorities have rolled out the red carpet for leaders including India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, the South Korean president, Park Geun-hye, Brazil’s president, Michel Temer, and the British prime minister, Theresa May, who touched down on Sunday morning.
But the leader of the world’s largest economy, who is on his final tour of Asia, was forced to disembark from Air Force One through a little-used exit in the plane’s belly after no rolling staircase was provided when he landed in the eastern Chinese city on Saturday afternoon.
The correct way, as afforded British Prime Minister Theresa May.
“The reception that President Obama and his staff got when they arrived here Saturday afternoon was bruising, even by Chinese standards,” the New York Times reported.
Jorge Guajardo, Mexico’s former ambassador to China, said he was convinced Obama’s treatment was part of a calculated snub.
Bill Bishop, a China expert whose Sinocism newsletter tracks the country’s political scene, agreed that Obama’s welcome looked suspiciously like a deliberate slight intended “to make the Americans look diminished and weak”.
“It sure looks like a straight-up snub,” Bishop said. “This clearly plays very much into the [idea]: ‘Look, we can make the American president go out of the ass of the plane.’”
After shit like this, a real president would implement consequences. Here's some suggestions that would piss of the Reds and make them think twice about this sort of jerky trick in the future.
These options are suggested to respond to the much more serious actions of the Reds in the South China Sea, but any could be used to slap the smirk of the face of this bully.
Economically the United States and the nations that surround the South China Sea have a number of options. Australia could place a rising import tariff on goods made by Chinese companies arriving in the Down Under. For every passing month that China does not vacate the artificial features, the tariff would rise. The Philippines, who won the legal battle at The Hague, could sue in foreign courts to seize Chinese assets as back payment for “rent” of Philippine territory as well as pursue claims for environmental damages. For example, the Philippines could ask a U.S. federal court to transfer ownership of the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, a property owned by a Chinese state entity. Such actions, to include sanctions, should be pursued for the purpose of disciplining China for its illegal seizure of reefs in violation of international law.
Diplomatically the nations in the western Pacific should seek to diminish China’s position in the world. They should reject all entreaties from China to speak in a bi-lateral fashion, rebuffing the Chinese tradition of suzerain and supplicant. Instead they should deal with China multilaterally. Additionally, the regional powers and the United States should initiate steps to recognize the Republic of China on Taiwan as an independent nation, separate and distinct from Communist China. Possessing a population nearly the size of Australia’s and an economy ranked amongst the top of the world, Taiwan has more than earned a legitimate position in international institutions such as the United Nations. These actions and others like them should be pursued for the purpose of correcting China.
My respect for the Chinese just made a quantum leap upward!
ReplyDeleteAgreed Towjam
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DeleteObama should be humbled......turds always exit the back.
ReplyDeleteEven better, the president of the Philippines just addressed him as "You son of a whore," which at the very least indicates historical awareness.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, by the way - "its."