Click Here to Subsribe to the 'The Vance Report' Feed In recent days, following the Presidential election, I have continually been asked by my more politically minded university students what I think about President Bush’s eight years in office. Usually, I turn the question around and ask them to tell me what they think about Mr. Bush’s impact on China during his two terms in office.
At first, I was surprised by the number of negative responses that I received. It seemed that few of my students had anything good to say about Mr. Bush – a man who has led the U.S. since most of them were 13-14 years old. When I really listened to what they were saying, however, I realized that there was very little substance. The few students who were able to come up with reasons for their dislike of Mr. Bush seemed to be very badly misinformed about his policy toward China.
In fact, there seems to be widespread confusion in China about the Bush administration’s relationship with Beijing since 2000. For example, many of my students have falsely assumed that Bush has supported Tibetan independence because of his meetings with the Dalai Lama. Nothing could be further from the truth. The United States had already recognized Tibet as a part of China before the People’s Republic of China was established in 1949. The Bush administration has done nothing to change this policy and has only urged Beijing to restrain itself and to deal with the recent conflicts there peacefully.
I have also heard some of my students complaining about President Bush’s policy towards Taiwan. While discussing the issue of Taiwan with students in China is imprudent, I cannot help but wonder to myself about what exactly people are complaining. Certainly the U.S. Taiwan policy is more complex and and at times ambiguous than the Tibet policy. No matter, since Nixon’s historic visit to Beijing in 1972, the U.S. has adhered to a one-China foreign policy. The fact that Taiwan has no diplomatic recognition in the United States – a policy started in the early 90’s - has remained unchanged during the Bush administration. Washington views Taiwan as an inseparable part of China but strongly opposes the use of force by either side to resolve the ongoing conflict.
When one looks back on the past eight years, it is clear that President Bush has been a good friend to the Chinese. His policy of maintaining and strengthening economic ties with China has demonstrated his optimism for China’s future. In general, Bush has treated China as a “strategic partner” just as he promised he would during his campaign. At the end of 2001, for example, Bush moved to give China permanent normal trade status in a move that he called “the final step in normalizing US-China relations.”
Although the Beijing Olympics just came to an end three months ago, it would seem that many in China have already forgotten that Mr. Bush was the first President in U.S. history to attend Olympic festivities outside of America. President Bush traveled to Beijing amid fierce criticism that was leveled at him by human rights groups worldwide. It appears that the Chinese have also quickly forgotten that their Presidential hopeful – Barack Obama - urged President Bush to skip the 2008 Games. President Bush however, who had already promised Chinese President Hu Jintao that he would attend, made the trip stating that it was his wish to support the American athletes and be a friend to the Chinese people.
President Bush has also been a friend to the millions of Christians and other downtrodden groups of people in China who have been victims of government perpetrated human rights violations. From Washington and also on Chinese soil, President Bush has never missed an opportunity to call for improved human rights in China and has even gone as far to worship in Chinese government churches, demonstrating his solidarity with Christians across China. His trip to Beijing in August was no different. Before he had even landed in China, he had already made strong statements condemning Beijing’s dismal human rights record.
Perhaps then, it is this prodding by President Bush that has left many here with a bad impression of him. After all, the Chinese government is viewed by its people as a ‘kind mother’. Any criticism of the Chinese government is perceived as an insult to the Chinese people.
Someday - after enough time has passed for history to deliver a fair verdict – I believe that President Bush will be remembered as a friend to the People’s Republic of China. His willingness to maintain strong relations with China while at the same being firm with Beijing on the issue of human rights has helped push China further in the right direction as it struggles to emerge from the shadows of oppression and destitution.
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Well said, Vance.
It made me proud to see Bush standing in the Bird’s Nest applauding the athletes last August. I don’t like everything he did while in office, but I have always believed that boycotting the Olympics would have done so much more harm to US-China relations than it would good.
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Bush’s first few months in office were actually not very kind to China until the air fighter vs. spy plane incident–it was after that incident did relations between Bush and the CCP improve.
I do however, disagree on your conclusion that:
“Someday – after enough time has passed for history to deliver a fair verdict – I believe that President Bush will be remembered as a friend to the People’s Republic of China. His willingness to maintain strong relations with China while at the same being firm with Beijing on the issue of human rights has helped push China further in the right direction as it struggles to emerge from the shadows of oppression and destitution.”
Yes, he’ll get his deserved credit for the Olympics, but mostly they will see him as nothing but a hypocrite in regards to human rights that he could not even bother to care about within the US.
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@Demerzel,
Agreed on the first point. I actually thought the Bush administration handled that ‘crisis’ very well which like you said probably helped to improve relations.
On your other points…are you speaking of the Patriot Act when you write that “he was a hypocrite in regards to human rights that he could not even bother to care about within the US…”? I realize that he has been criticized for Iraq, Guatanamo Bay, etc, but in the US?
Anyway, there is no question that Iraq has also made him unpopular here but in my opinion, our country is safer because of it and because of the war in Afghanistan. No attacks since 9/11 is amazing. I hope Obama can continue that…
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Patriot Act, Protect America Act, Warrantless Wiretapping, Bush’s inability to state what torture is, approval of torture within the US territories, indefinite holding of an American citizen without a warrant or charge & then move to military tribunal systems.
Uh… we had the Anthrax attack on his watch, which as far as I can tell, was a terrorist attack after 9/11, so no, he has had one. Iraq had no bearing to 9/11 and in fact made the US less safe as it diverted our resources away from Afghanistan and Al Qaeda.
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I do believe that Bush has been a friend to China. Almost any good purchased within the USA came from or was made in China. Due to our craving for quantity and being cheap, I believe it has help create the economic crisis that we are in. What are we really producing here besides a failing auto industry? The Bush Administration symbolizes to Americans all the terrible things that can happen when America becomes apathetic towards it’s own system as well as itself. Having the second to worst approval rating of a presidency will definitely go down in the history books.
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Chinese officials laughed and snickered when Bush ducked and weaved in the path of that flying shoe in Bagdad in December, adding that the shoe attack would lead him to some necessary soul-searching.
Yesterday the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao learned that the Europeans have some shoes of their own to throw, as one sailed past him on the stage where he was speaking at England’s Cambridge university.
Evidently the hurler of the show was upset that Britain was now ‘prostituting’ itself by ending it’s
policy of being the only western government that had kept a representative in the Tibetan capital.
Of course now the Chinese propaganda department is calling this flying shoe, a ‘despicable act’…..And naturally very few in China even know about it, the state controlled media having deleted mention of it, or at most, called it a ‘disturbance’, while focusing instead on the Chinese leader speaking to any friendly applause that was available .
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Robert Vance Reply:
February 5th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Good stuff J. I didn’t hear about that. Can you give us a source? I’d love to read about it.
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Here’s the article Vance, from the British Newspaper’The Times Online’,February 2 2009. I trust that you and your Chinese associates and other readers to ‘Teach Abroad China’ will find it most ‘instructive’….J.M.
Ben Macintyre, Cambridge and Nico Hines
A protester threw a shoe at Wen Jiabao, the Chinese Premier, today as he delivered a speech on the global economy at Cambridge University.
Mr Wen was coming to the last part of his address when a young Western-looking man with dark hair stood up, blew a whistle and shouted: “How can the university prostitute itself with this dictator? How can you listen to these lies?”
The man, who appeared to be in his early twenties, then took off his heavy shoe and threw it at the stage missing the Premier by a few feet.
“Stand up and protest, you’re not challenging him,” he shouted in a European accent as he was bundled out of the room by security staff.
Mr Wen then reprimanded the protester as more security guards moved on to the stage before he finished his speech.
“This despicable behaviour cannot stand in the way of friendship between China and the UK,” he said.
Shoe-throwing as an act of protest was popularised in December by Muntadhar al-Zeidi, an Iraqi journalist, who threw his brogues at George W. Bush, the former American president. He missed with both attempts but was arrested by Iraqi security forces.
Security was tight in the build up to the speech with scores of Chinese secret service agents monitoring the audience. The guests who heard Mr Jibao speak were searched and passed through metal detractors as they entered the room.
Police kept demonstrators away from the Premier as he arrived to speak. A group of objecting to Chinese policy in Tibet and raising concerns about human rights in China were penned in a corner about 50 yards from the entrance.
Mr Wen was in England for economic talks with Gordon Brown. The Prime Minister said the earlier that the economic relationship between Britain and China would be a vital way of weathering the current worldwide economic storm.
“The strength of the relationship between China and Britain will be a pivotal force in helping us through the downturn and a powerful driving force behind our future growth and prosperity,” he said.
Mr Wen was due to return home tonight at the end of a trip that has also taken him to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to Germany and the EU headquarters in Brussels.
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Thanks for posting that. Very interesting. And you are right. No one here knows anything about it which of course is to be expected.
I think it’s amusing how Wen said, “This despicable behaviour cannot stand in the way of friendship between China and the UK…” because knowing how the Chinese govt reacts to things, this very well could have turned into an international crisis. I’m glad he took it so well…
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