NEW YORK, Dec. 1
China's refusal to allow the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier group to berth in Hong Kong for Thanksgiving Day was a misunderstanding, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi reportedly told U.S. President George W. Bush during a phone call on Nov. 27.
This is an excuse from the highest leadership. The incident, in fact, was not a case of misunderstanding but a purposeful action.
A China-U.S. agreement had been reached several months earlier that the USS Kitty Hawk would be allowed to visit Hong Kong from Nov. 21 to 24 during the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. On Nov. 21, one day before Thanksgiving, when the carrier group with 8,000 sailors was approaching Hong Kong, the U.S. side was suddenly informed by Chinese authorities that there was "no approval for the berthing." Moreover, the Chinese side refused to offer an explanation for this unilateral, last-minute decision.
The planned berthing was not for military purposes but merely an arrangement for the sailors to celebrate a holiday. Thanksgiving Day isn't even a political holiday, like the U.S. Independence Day on July 4. It is a civilian holiday when families get together with their loved ones once a year, similar to the Lunar New Year's Day for the Chinese.
On this U.S. holiday, according to the original arrangement between the two sides, U.S. troops stationed overseas would be granted an opportunity to meet their family members, many of whom had flown to Hong Kong for the occasion. It was a perfect embodiment of President Hu Jintao's slogans advocating "people oriented" leadership and a "harmonious society."
However, the real practice was neither people-oriented nor conducive of harmony. The result was that the U.S. sailors could not meet their family members, after nearly 300 of them had spent their own money to fly to Hong Kong. The aircraft carrier was forced to return to its base in Japan.
The Chinese government has accumulated a list of complaints against the United States over certain issues in recent years. The list reflects long-term differences between China and the United States. However, long-term differences must be resolved in the long run, and should not be reflected in the treatment of regular U.S. troops and their innocent family members.
There is no honor or credit in this kind of erratic behavior. Using a situation like this as a pretext for high-flown talk and beating about the bush is a reflection of Cold War mentality. It is not civilized diplomacy.
Actually, China displayed the same Cold War approach a few days earlier, when two U.S. minesweepers encountered a storm in international waters and requested permission to shelter and refuel in Hong Kong. But China turned down this request. As a result, the two minesweepers had to refuel from a U.S. tanker and fight the storm on their own until they could leave the area.
It is common practice between countries that are not at war that if the navy of one country requests help from the other in an emergency, the help should be given as far as possible. However, the Chinese government completely ignored this civilized rule based on humanitarian concerns.
The Chinese Navy has carried out joint exercises at sea with the U.S. Navy more than once. However, when the U.S. ships faced a real danger, the Chinese refused to give them a hand. This resembles the situation between the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War, when the USSR took every opportunity to make things difficult for the United States.
Hu Jintao, who is not only head of state but also chairman of the Central Military Commission, must be the person responsible for this Cold War approach. No other individual or institution would have the authority to give such an order, not even the Chinese Navy or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It appears necessary to remind Chairman Hu of the fact that times have changed. The Cold War ended more than 16 years ago.
If the Chinese government has anything to discuss with its U.S. counterpart, there are proper channels for communication and negotiation. There is no need to play little tricks to make up for the lack of a big stick. Gamesmanship without actual strength will have no impact. If China has no big stick to wield, it might consider trying civilized diplomacy.
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(Fang Jue is a political activist and freelance writer living in the United States. He was a former government official in China and worked at the Politics Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He was a visiting scholar at the Fairbanks Center for East Asian Research at Harvard University in 2003. This article is translated and edited from the Chinese by UPI Asia Online; the original can be found at www.chinaeweekly.com. ©Copyright Fang Jue.)
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