Posted on 11/22/2018 6:32:24 PM PST by Zhang Fei
PORT MORESBY, PAPUA NEW GUINEA — For the first time in its 20-year history, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit ended in disarray Sunday when the 21 member countries could not reach consensus on a joint statement because of objections by one member — China. When the summit failed, to the disgust of the other diplomats, Chinese officials broke out in applause.
But that was only the final incident in a week during which China’s official delegation staged a series of aggressive, bullying, paranoid and weird stunts to try to exert dominance and pressure the host nation and everyone else into succumbing to its demands.
“This is becoming a bit of a routine in China’s official relations: tantrum diplomacy,” a senior U.S. official involved in the negotiations told me. “Them walking around like they own the place and trying to get what they want through bullying.”
Even before the summit started, and continuing right up to its end, Chinese officials used every opportunity to strong-arm or undermine the host nation government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the other summit members. Chinese tactics included being thuggish with the international media, busting into government buildings uninvited, papering the capital city of Port Moresby with pro-Beijing propaganda and possibly even using cyberattacks to stifle the message of Vice President Pence, the U.S. delegation leader.
I was traveling with Pence, and the APEC summit was his last stop in a week-long Asia tour, which included visits to Japan, Australia and Singapore, where the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit was held. The PNG stop was a showdown of sorts between Pence and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who had been in Port Moresby for several days prior for an official state visit.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
This is an interesting post. And I know nothing about China’s strong arm tactics. Is there a good document to read on this subject?
Kind of weird to see the Post criticizing China.
China is trying to make up for decades of wimpism...
China doesn’t view building popular support as valuable. It is much cheaper for them to get the other country’s leaders in a closed room to make a “deal” against the interest of their own people.
Cambodia's president-for-life's son suggests that China is trying to force countries to choose between China and the US.
Just know this:
China acts, in accordance with the relative power in situations.
When America was the strongest around, they were very nice.
Now they are becoming more powerful, they are becoming more aggressive.
I do not believe there is a limit, to how aggressive they will become, as they become more powerful.
I really don’t.
I lived in Beijing back just after they opened to the outside world.
I think the west has been INCREDIBLY naïve in dealing with the country.
Thank goodness Trump seems to have a clue.
But even with Trump, we are about to set YET ANOTHER record trade deficit, with China.
https://census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c5700.html
https://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1121.html
I agree with that.
The gentleman, gets it.
It sounds as if the Chinese know how to further their objectives.
China may still want to start a war with a pushover, in part to cull their own surplus males. I used to think it would be another invasion of Indochina, but now I think it will be internal, against the Uighurs and Tibetans. They've also been pretty quick to send large (mostly male) workforces into foreign countries, including in Africa and Latin America.
[China may still want to start a war with a pushover, in part to cull their own surplus males.]
It’s unclear to me which great thinker first pulled this particular theory out of thin air, but nobody sends soldiers off to war for the reason you cited. China is far higher income (2x-4x) than many of the countries to the south and west, and could import millions of picture brides to fill the need if necessary. But the reality is that Japan and Korea have far higher numbers of unattached males and they’re not exactly revolting. War as a means of dealing with internal pressures is fine if the outcome is more or less guaranteed and the casualty numbers are likely to be low. That does not describe any war in which the US is China’s opposite number.
Major Chinese dynasties have fallen with the entire royal clan, numbering in the tens of thousands, killed to the last man, woman and child, in the wake of major battlefield defeats. Chinese policymakers don’t always make great decisions, but they always consult the past.
APEC then needs to eject Communist China from the group as that regime really only wants to disrupt any use of it against their (Chi-Coms) unfair practices and bullying of other nations.
APEC should then reconvene in a month and immediately create a strengthened pact : to as a group, counter with strong action any move that China makes against its members.
Now the real commie aspect of Red China is coming to the fore.
Soon we will see a line in the sand.
I have no doubt that we will cross it in defiance.So will Japan.
Thanks, Salvavida. This is impressive research. I skimmed through the first few chapters. And looking through the hundreds of researchers on staff you feel Rand Corp is very solid organization.
Their website is also one of the best I’ve seen in terms of an information site.
Thanks Zhang Fei.
I knew an analyst with DIA that uses this extensively.
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