Round The World

New Delhi, 24 November 2009

Symbolic Visit

OBAMA  KOWTOWING CHINA

By Hina Pandey

School of International Studies, JNU

State visits by Heads of State are symbolic in nature. They may or may not turn into significant agreements or disagreements immediately, but they do convey meaningful messages across by the symbolic gestures. One such case is President Barrack Obama’s recent four-day visit to Beijing. It resulted in a discussion on a range of issues, such as Iran’s nuclear programme, global economy and even maintenance of peace and security in the South Asian region. Additionally, it raised the question: whether Washington has finally recognized Beijing as an important and more influential player in South Asia, even though it is the US which has engaged itself more directly with the region?

During his visit, President Obama clearly mentioned that, “crucial problems can not be solved unless the world’s only super power and its rising competitor work together.” With regard to the South Asian region, both the US and China agreed in a declared joint statement that, improvement of ties between India and Pakistan is essential for the maintenance of peace and security in the region.

Undoubtedly, this would have grave implications for India as it has always maintained that the Kashmir issue, which is the cause of much tension in the region, is a bilateral one. And that New Delhi would not tolerate the US, let alone China intervening.

The acknowledgement of Washington in recognizing Beijing as an important player certainly sends symbolic messages across, but also implicitly forces one to think, as to what kind of global role would China be able play, if responsibilities are to be shared between the two players? Will China emerge stronger than the US in resolving issues effectively or will it prefer taking a backseat and simply focus on its own national interest?

Moreover, considering that China has never been in this position before, combined with the unpredictable nature of its foreign policy behavior, it is indeed worrisome to think about its response towards the host of issues. Clearly, the US-China dependence has occupied center stage in the present international politics. Emerging trends show that in the near future both would be significant drivers in international politics. However, it is significant that this did not happen overnight. The US’ declining world image and China’s rising economy have contributed equally towards it.

The decade of the 90’s strategic analysis foresaw a threat of peer competitor to the US foreign policy as embedded in rising China. What it did not compel was the need to respond urgently. The “Rising China” factor did not appear too immediate to the US foreign policy or perhaps the apex decision making in Washington undermined the Chinese potential to scale itself at a global leadership position so soon.

Beijing’s penetration of the world market and sustenance of its economy amidst staggering recession is no secret. The steady rise of its economy is accompanied by a significant rise in its military capabilities and a leadership ambition.  However, what is crucial is that these ambitions have been able to receive an acknowledgement not only by the world community but also by Washington, which happens to be the direct recipient of ramifications posed by the newly-carved position in the international arena.

By default, Beijing today has assumed a place equivalent to a global leader. It is thus expected out of “Rising China” that it would positively play a role in resolving a mountain of issues such as non-proliferation, climate change, reviving the fractured economy and even fighting terrorism specifically in Afghanistan region.

Indeed, the rise of China seems to have caught everyone’s attention -- from the media to strategists, from political executives to think-tanks and most obviously President Barrack Obama. His visit to Beijing signaled the desire to deepen the ties further. Washington’s interest in doing so is also evident from the fact that, the US’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Susan Rice, herself stated in an interview to the Newsweek that China today is playing a more active role at the UN than ever before.

During the last two occasions, when a US president met with his Chinese counterpart, issues such a human rights in regard with Tibet and Tiananmen Square were discussed at great length. However, Obama’s visit this time effectively sidelined the concerns, which were initially considered as crucial towards the Sino-US relationship. In fact, this time around Obama left the pro-Tibetan lobby a little disappointed as he did not insist upon resolving the issue.

On the contrary, after his summit with the Chinese premiere Obama reiterated that the US recognizes Tibet as a part of China. Apparently, he referred to the Tibet issue subtly, and asked Beijing to accept what is called the universal human rights. On his part, President Hu Jintao said that Beijing expects Washington to respect and accommodate its core interests, concerns and territorial integrity in a direct reference to Tibet.

Importantly, prior to this State visit, President Obama was scheduled to meet with the spiritual leader but the meeting was cancelled due to the “anti Dalai Lama” campaign launched by the Chinese. Ever since then, the theme of sidelining consequential issues for China has been evident in the US-Sino relationship. For instance, during the APEC meeting as well, the issue of strengthening of Yuan was kept aside and instead, unreasonable trade was talked about between the rising economy and its competitor.

The only point that went against China was its restriction on many of its internet sites for its users. Obama spoke at length against the censorship of the internet and cited his country as an example. He said “things such as freedom of expression and worship, unfettered access to information and unrestricted political participation should be available to all the people, including ethnic and religious minorities, whether they are in US, China or any other nation.” On the rest of the issues Washington’s stand was more or less neutral.

At the end, it seems that the President has really done more than enough to please China, in the hope that it would result in marking a turning point in the Sino-US relations. Whether there is a remarkable shift in both the State’s perspectives towards each other only time will tell.  --- INFA

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