Bombs and Dollars – American Foreign Policy Blog – China, Afghanistan, Pakistan

Our Managing Director is ecstatic. Not only ’cause yesterday we got record traffic (Thanks, Neil Boortz!)…even 1 hit from China!…which is a cause for celebration in itself…but also I wrote this post entirely focusing on China and its relation with U.S. and other relevant news snippets. As you know, President Barack Obama’s Asia trip was a public relations disaster…which scoffed both time-tested allies like Israel, and India, but it also resulted in Chinese diplomatic victories on every front…and even snubbing of U.S. suggestions on some points…

Even just a month back, India and the U.S. were training for wars together. The U.S.-India relationship thrived under Bush, and they are a key ally in the War Conflict Against Terror.

Now, in China, Indian media is reporting that Obama’s comments about getting China more involved in the Pakistan are causing controversy.

India and Pakistan have had a tenuous relationship since the 1947 partition of India and the and the Indo-Pakistan War. India has had conflicts with China, too, over border lands, and just this summer, both countries were increasing troop levels on their border.

The United States is nudging China to play an important role in the task of improving the relationship between India and Pakistan – a move which sources in New Delhi say the Indian government is not happy about.

…

Sources in New Delhi say Obama’s statement has not gone down too well with the Indian government, which has always opposed third party intervention in the India-Pakistan dialogue.

- India Times Now

The U.S. has rushed to damage control, with Under Secretary of State William Burns saying, “United States is interested in pursuing the best and healthiest possible partnership with China; but that does not come at the expense of other increasingly important partnership, particularly our relationship with India.”

But it with the two sides having differing interests, any position taken would necessarily impact relations with both countries. And with the leverage China holds over American debt-backing, China does hold a certain sway.

As reported in USA Today:

Indians watched warily as Obama visited China this week and met with Chinese President Hu Jintao. India and China fought a border war in 1962 and a long-running border dispute has increased already high tensions between the regional rivals.

Indians have also bristled over a perception that Obama neglected India’s role in the region during his Asia trip and at the mention of sensitive ties between India and Pakistan in a Hu-Obama joint statement.

And Burns went overtime with damage control:

The countries are boosting cooperation on anti-terrorism, economic and energy initiatives, Burns said, and India’s already large role in Asia will only grow.

“That doesn’t mean that we will always agree, because we won’t. That doesn’t mean that we can always avoid mutual suspicions and misunderstandings, because we can’t,” Burns said. But, he said, the two countries can build an even stronger partnership on the solid foundation they’ve created in recent years.

China’s spokesman of foreign ministry himself, Qin Gang, addressed the issue, saying, “China hopes for a gradual improvement in the relations between India and Pakistan.”

Yesterday, the Chinese government invited Kashmiri-separatist (some of the Indian land in dispute with Pakistan) leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq for a visit.

All the while, as China disputes land issues with India, Russia, and Vietnam, Chinese spies have been reportedly increasing infiltration and disruption of government websites, according to a report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission to Congress.

Chinese dissidents, as well, were disappointed by Obama’s visit. Obama even declined to meet with the Dalai Lama, prompting the reported disappointment.

“At first, I had a lot of hope for human rights, for Tibet and for Xinjiang,” said female Tibetan writer Woeser, who goes by only one name and is a vocal critic of China’s policies in the Himalayan region.

…

According to the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, more than 30 rights activists were either detained or under house arrest during the Obama visit.

Ai lamented the lack of reaction from Obama.

“You come to China and a lot of people are arrested due to your visit — this is an issue that you cannot ignore,” the artist said.

“You cannot say that you will talk about this next year or in two years because during this time these people will be sent to jail.”

His one speech decrying censorship of the web is ironically being censored on the Chinese web.

And well, we’re going to end it on this, from Pravda, where there’s an article about “endless pleasure in bed” linked in the sidebar:

China has launched the serial production of J-10, J-11 and FC-1 fighter jets, which are rip-offs of Russia’s Su-27/30 and MiG-29 aircraft. The nation intends to build and sell not less than 1,200 planes at the prices which will be much lower than those of the Russian planes.

The report is not the news for the Russian defense industry. In 2003, China refused to prolong the license for the production of Su-27CK planes and started working on the construction of its own jet – a copy of the Russian analogue.

What can be better than a hissy fit between providers of state-run media in the two biggest communist countries. (If MSNBC gets involved…)

Now China is taking jobs away from Russia, too, and with black market counterfeits, no less.