US-China Relations - 176. page

Obama will always put the US interest first, says Study Times about the tariffs on Chinese tires. “When US interests are at stake, he inevitably plays the role of the U.S. President.” “Obama approved the punitive tariffs on Chinese tires in spite of the fact that he appears to be friendlier to China than his predecessor and that he met with Chinese leader Wu Bangguo the day before.” “From this, we can see that only interests are eternal and friendship does not belong to this category.”

Source: Study Times, September 21, 2009
http://www.studytimes.com.cn/WebPage/ny1.aspx?act=1&id=2925&nid=10692&bid=1&page=1

The International Herald Leader, a newspaper under Xinhua, published a commentary about the “U.S. National Intelligence Strategy.” It noted that the U.S. identifies China, Russia, Iran and North Korea as its “imaginary intelligence enemies” and stressed China and Russia’s capability of Cyber War against the U.S. The commentary said that the U.S. changes its face toward China, from cozy relationship at the G2 to punitive taxes on Chinese tires, and then to directly pointing to China as its “main challenger.” The U.S. did a complete turn-about.

The bottom line is, that it is unimportant that they claim China to be their imaginary enemy or praise the G2; it all is an outgrowth of the U.S. national interest. At certain times, the U.S. might need to ask for favors from China, but in reality, it is on high alert concerning China.

Source: International Herald Leader, September 21, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2009-09/21/content_12087872.htm

President Obama’s decision on Chinese tires met with “strong opposition” in the United States, according to Chinese state media. On September 11, President Obama announced punitive tariffs on all car and light truck tires entering the United States from China. The International Herald Leader under Xinhua, a state-run media outlet, noted that in previous trade cases sanctions against China were ordered by the U.S. Department of Commerce or the U.S. International Trade Commission. “It is noteworthy that during the eight years of the George W. Bush administration, the U.S. government without exception rejected several requests for punitive damages against China." 

Source: Xinhua, September 14, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2009-09/14/content_12048716.htm

Xinhua cited an unidentified overseas media saying China may consider tougher measures against U.S. military surveillance operations in its coastal waters. On August 27, China, at a U.S.-China maritime military security meeting, said, "the ultimate way to resolve U.S.-China maritime incidents is for the U.S. to change its surveillance and survey operations policies against China, and decrease and eventually stop such operations." “Overseas media hold that to date this is the most explicit statement from China on the U.S. reconnaissance activities, which may mean that China will take tough measures against the U.S.” A Chinese military expert expressed that China can first issue warnings, followed by expulsion. “If that does not work, China can proceed to surround the intruding vessel and sink it.”

Source: Xinhua, September 7, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2009-09/07/content_12008577.htm

Recently, the US has deployed several nuclear aircraft carriers in Northeast Asian waters, according to the International Herald. The carriers missions include monitoring vital interest areas of the region, such as the Korean Peninsula, the Taiwan Straight, the South China Sea and as military protection of Japan. The three strategic missions for the US are to “Monitor North Korea, Deter China, and Protect Japan.” They are meant as deterrents in case of possible conflict in the area.

The International Herald also advised that these deployments are based on the US’ Fleet Response Plan, which calls for six of the Navy’s 12 aircraft carriers to be available for deployment within 30 days and another two within 90 days.

Source: International Herald, August 24, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2009-08/24/content_11934396.htm

Cai Weiming, general secretary of the Tire Branch of the China Rubber Industry Association disclosed that the association might recommend increasing tariffs on imported agricultural goods from the U.S. or set limits on imports as anti-sanction measures.

President Obama has until September 17 to decide whether to impose protectionist measures on Chinese made tires.

Source: China News, August 13, 2009
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/cj/cj-gncj/news/2009/08-13/1816062.shtml

[Since the 7-5 Event in Xinjiang, Chinese media have repeatedly blamed the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) for supporting Rebiya Kadeer — ed.] On August 12, 2009, the Global Times, a state newspaper under People’s Daily with a focus on international news reporting, published a lengthy article to detail how the NED propped up Rebiya Kadeer to form an anti-China group. It reported that NED’s President, Carl Gershman, identified the value of Kadeer even when she was in China’s prison and worked through his connections with the US State Department to pressure China into releasing her to the US. Once Kadeer came to the US, Gershman provided funding and pushed her into the position of spiritual leader for Xinjiang separatists. From 2004 to June 2009, the NED has provided nearly $2.24 million to support the “East Turkistan” separatist groups including the World Uyghur Congress, Uyghur American Association, International Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation, and International PEN Uyghur Center. NED provided near $600,000, about 13% of its China budget in 2008 and has confirmed over $500,000, or 15% of its China budget for 2009.

Global Times further reported that the U.S. government is behind the scenes. It lets NED take front stage to create turmoil in Xinjiang to reduce Xinjiang’s strategic position in China’s cooperation with countries in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). “The violent event occurred shortly after the SCO’s historical meeting (referring to the SCO Summit in June 2009). It is not a coincidence.”

By Global Times, August 12, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2009-08/12/content_11866990.htm

China News Agency quoted an article from the Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao commenting on the U.S.’ behavior at the First Round of Sino-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington, DC on July 27 and 28. Ming Pao said that Obama lowered himself to China, demonstrating the U.S.’ flexibility of being soft in exchange for its national interest.

However, how well the Sino-U.S. relationship goes depends on the following three main issues: 1. How much additional speaking power will the U.S. allow China to have in international organizations such as the IMF? 2. Will the U.S. stop the ban on selling advanced technologies to China? 3. When the U.S. economy stabilizes, will it reduce its spending or devalue the dollar to solve its financial problems but cause huge losses to China who owns a large amount of Treasury bonds?

Source: China News Agency, July 29, 2009
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/hb/news/2009/07-29/1794786.shtml