Why Obama Failed in China
By Chip Tsao | published Nov 26, 2009
The speech to Shanghai university students blacked out. The interview with a liberal magazine censored. No major human rights issues were raised. The return for all this kow-towing goodwill? A blunt “no” from the Chinese to the American’s meek demand for the appreciation of the Renminbi, dashing any hope of easing the trade deficit and rising unemployment at home. Mutual agreement on the containment of Iran in regard to its nuclear proliferation? A deaf ear. Cut down CO2 emissions? Only if you do it first.
Obama’s trip to China has been indisputably a thumbs-down flop. His pop-star charisma was blatantly castrated by his host as soon as the self-proclaimed “Pacific President” began appearing on the stump in Shanghai and Beijing. What Obama gained most is perhaps a rare taste of genuine feminine beauty, as seen in his hypnotized gawk as he was being served by a Chinese waitress at the state banquet, which was promptly snapped by a keen Reuters journalist. An eye-opening sight indeed for any American man who grew up surrounded by feminist indoctrination, where the Jane Fondas of the country began flexing their muscle as far back as the early 1970s in a gesture of gender prowess.
It is unfair to criticize Obama for being a China novice. At least he knows it is wiser to ditch the wife on such a discovery trip where his eyes can feast upon the visual marvels at the dining table (there would also be plenty more to experience, of course, and not just with his eyes, if he so wishes). But he must be confused about why he came home absolutely empty-handed after going down on both knees before the Chinese.
I can tell him the undesirable truth after unofficially chatting with many native Chinese privately in Lan Kwai Fong pubs, Wan Chai seafood restaurants and taxi drivers around Central. Despite his mesmerized gape, Obama simply doesn’t look presidential enough to earn any serious respect in his host’s eyes, nothing above a condescending squint. For most Chinese, even if we are prepared to make the smallest Dr. Fu Manchu reciprocation in kow-tow to big Uncle Sam, we prefer granting it to someone with a stouter body shape, and yes, it must be said, a brighter skin color. At least this would make the Chinese feel better. If Obama called himself the first official “President of the Anglo-American alliance,” an old pensioner living in Devon, England may protest in dismay. And so would the potential subjects of a surrealistic “Pacific President.” We’re not used to seeing a US president walking on the Great Wall alone, clad in only a light jacket, his hands in his pockets James Dean-style, shivering in the cold.
No, we are simply not ready.
The speech to Shanghai university students blacked out. The interview with a liberal magazine censored. No major human rights issues were raised. The return for all this kow-towing goodwill? A blunt “no” from the Chinese to the American’s meek demand for the appreciation of the Renminbi, dashing any hope of easing the trade deficit and rising unemployment at home. Mutual agreement on the containment of Iran in regard to its nuclear proliferation? A deaf ear. Cut down CO2 emissions? Only if you do it first.
Obama’s trip to China has been indisputably a thumbs-down flop. His pop-star charisma was blatantly castrated by his host as soon as the self-proclaimed “Pacific President” began appearing on the stump in Shanghai and Beijing. What Obama gained most is perhaps a rare taste of genuine feminine beauty, as seen in his hypnotized gawk as he was being served by a Chinese waitress at the state banquet, which was promptly snapped by a keen Reuters journalist. An eye-opening sight indeed for any American man who grew up surrounded by feminist indoctrination, where the Jane Fondas of the country began flexing their muscle as far back as the early 1970s in a gesture of gender prowess.
It is unfair to criticize Obama for being a China novice. At least he knows it is wiser to ditch the wife on such a discovery trip where his eyes can feast upon the visual marvels at the dining table (there would also be plenty more to experience, of course, and not just with his eyes, if he so wishes). But he must be confused about why he came home absolutely empty-handed after going down on both knees before the Chinese.
I can tell him the undesirable truth after unofficially chatting with many native Chinese privately in Lan Kwai Fong pubs, Wan Chai seafood restaurants and taxi drivers around Central. Despite his mesmerized gape, Obama simply doesn’t look presidential enough to earn any serious respect in his host’s eyes, nothing above a condescending squint. For most Chinese, even if we are prepared to make the smallest Dr. Fu Manchu reciprocation in kow-tow to big Uncle Sam, we prefer granting it to someone with a stouter body shape, and yes, it must be said, a brighter skin color. At least this would make the Chinese feel better. If Obama called himself the first official “President of the Anglo-American alliance,” an old pensioner living in Devon, England may protest in dismay. And so would the potential subjects of a surrealistic “Pacific President.” We’re not used to seeing a US president walking on the Great Wall alone, clad in only a light jacket, his hands in his pockets James Dean-style, shivering in the cold.
No, we are simply not ready.
Labels: Politically Incorrect, 陶傑
posted by Gemini Saga at 12:00 AM
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