The Free Republic India and Indo-US Issues Ping!
Posted on 12/04/2005 12:34:48 PM PST by Gengis Khan
Uhhh...I don't think I will; Every--and I do mean EVERY--Force joining us is a great assist.
Very good article from AEI....thanks for posting.
Bump
ping
U.S. must strive for balanced relations with Asian powers
by Sarah-Ann Smith
published December 4, 2005 6:00 am
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At the November meeting of the WNC World Affairs Council, Mars Hill College professor James Lenburg suggested ways the United States can respond to China’s emergence as a rising power. One way is containment, forming relationships and alliances with surrounding states to minimize China’s influence. Another way is accommodation. Lenburg warned that overreaction on the part of the United States could make an enemy or serious rival where none existed before.
While China is the most noticeable and arguably the most important, it is far from the only rising power in the region. Claim to such a status can also be made by India and Japan. At the moment, U.S. actions and statements suggest that we are indeed seeking to minimize China’s influence by our policies toward these two states.
Our developing relationship with India could create a range of unintended consequences. Last June Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld signed a 10-year military cooperation agreement with New Delhi, pledging joint efforts in the areas of weapons production and missile defense. This was followed in July by a nuclear technology agreement which commits the United States to export nuclear technology and equipment to India.
Such exports require changing a U.S. law prohibiting nuclear cooperation with states that are not party to the International Nonproliferation Treaty. The Bush administration has asked Congress to make this change so that the arrangement with India, which does not subscribe to the treaty, can go forward. If Congress complies, this would undermine U.S. credibility in dealing with Iran and North Korea on nuclear issues and potentially scuttle U.S. commitment to the Nonproliferation Treaty itself. A wiser alternative would be to insist that New Delhi become a party to the treaty in order for nuclear cooperation to go forward.
Gwynne Dyer, writing in Canada’s Walrus magazine, suggests that Beijing sees our overtures toward India as part of a strategy to encircle and contain China. China’s relations with India, though more cordial in recent years, have a long history of antagonism over a number of issues. While improving our ties with India is entirely appropriate, it may not be in our long-term interest to risk increasing tensions between these two major Asian states.
Our relationship with Japan also needs to be handled with attention to the effect of our policies and statements on the delicate balance of relations within the region. The Bush administration, partially out of concern for Taiwan’s safety, has encouraged Japan to strengthen its military capability. Whether this would protect Taiwan or incite China to action against the island is debatable. It certainly drives more deeply an already existing wedge between Beijing and Tokyo, which have clashed over conflicting claims to natural gas and potential oil reserves in the East China Sea.
Adding to the latent animosity, the Chinese still have dreadful memories of Japanese World War II atrocities. They are at best uncomfortable with continued Japanese reluctance to acknowledge responsibility for such things as the massacre of Nanjing and the human biological experiments in northeastern China.
During President Bush’s swing through Asia last month, his unstinting praise of Japan’s Premier Koizumi did nothing to reassure China. While in Japan, the president also delivered a speech in which he urged China to follow the model of Taiwan’s tandem development of political and economic freedom. Given Chinese sensitivities over Taiwan, such a suggestion can only be considered provocative. To the credit of the Chinese leadership, the president’s subsequent visit to Beijing, while resulting in no tangible progress, took place in an atmosphere of cordiality.
It is reasonable to periodically restate our position that the Taiwan problem be resolved peacefully, taking into account the interests and desires of people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. It is also reasonable to raise with China human rights and other issues that concern us. But criticism of China’s many shortcomings surely can be accompanied by admiration for the tremendous strides the country has made in the past decades.
More generally, setting one Asian state against the other, by our statements or our policies, undermines the potential for Asia’s harmonious development, which one must assume is a central objective of U.S. foreign policy. Doing what we can to encourage cooperation, rather than backing one or another of these rising powers into a corner, is most likely to result in peaceful regional and global relations.
Sarah-Ann Smith holds a Ph.D. in international relations, and served as a Foreign Service officer and consultant for the State Department. She lives in Asheville and she can be reached at orcone1@aol.com.
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051204/OPINION03/51202019/1006
Check post #5
Dubya is not an idiot.
From that article: "...the Chinese still have dreadful memories of Japanese World War II atrocities"
Pot calling the kettle black? This idiot author should be reminded that the Chinese govt. and Han Chinese are massacring Tibetians and other ethnic minorities by the millions even as we are reading her article.
I think that would be a great alliance. IMHO, Japan is the least reliable, because of its substantial anti-American contingent. India has one too, of course, but India is under direct threat from Muslim radicals and this may make them ignore their Communist faction.
Britain is a great ally, and I think will continue to be so, although of course the chattering classes of Britain hate us just as all chattering classes anywhere hate us.
I would include Australia in this Grand Alliance, and have high hopes for Eastern Europe.
India and Japan are the two most troubling examples.-????
India and Japan are the two most troubling examples.-????
I read the entire thing asking "what about Australia?"
Then of course there is Italy, Poland and a number of E.European countries.
Don't forget Israel.
China and russia are the greatest threat to nuclear war this century. Im all for the big four alliance of democracy.
Your caveats and concerns regarding unintended consequences and sensitive issues are ,or should be, well taken. Together, this post and your reply serve the the otherwise myopic general public with a start at better understanding of America's true role in world affairs.
That you are the the immediate target of smug "internationalists" and effete snobs is hardly a surprise.They are expected, as all camp followers are, at the tail of all significant campaigns. It's the rough equivalent of the "arm-chair first-responders" we witnessed even before Katrina recently came ashore.
Tweaking the twerps aside,I am thankful for your thoughtful addendum. Hope to see more as we forge ahead.
"More generally, setting one Asian state against the other, by our statements or our policies, undermines the potential for Asia’s harmonious development, which one must assume is a central objective of U.S. foreign policy. Doing what we can to encourage cooperation, rather than backing one or another of these rising powers into a corner, is most likely to result in peaceful regional and global relations."
Oh, I NEVER forget Israel! They are a given in my mind. We must not ever forget, or fail to support, Israel.
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