Showing posts with label Gary Locke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gary Locke. Show all posts

Sep 6, 2012

China 'Pissed' on America Military in Asia

Thursday, September 06, 2012
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While recently attending the 2012 East West Center International Conference in Beijing, I heard U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke's keynote speech. Overall, Locke's speech was very diplomatic, urging cooperation between China and the United States and I agreed with almost all of his points in that regard. However, Locke made one statement that struck me as a serious exaggeration - indicating that everyone is in agreement about the U.S. military presence in Asia being positive for the security of the region. Locke may have been referring to the United States' role in fighting the Japanese in WWII which many Asians may be appreciative of, but that appreciation doesn't necessarily extend to the U.S. military presence in the more recent era. Two days after hearing Locke's speech, I went to the 798 Art District in Beijing and saw the following artwork in one of the many galleries.

Chinese girl pissing on American aircraft carrier
I'm no art afficionado, but I think the sentiment behind this creation is pretty clear and the artist who created would probably vehemently disagree with Ambassador Locke's view of peoples' opinions about the American military providing security in Asia. Of course, some might say that the expanding military power of China is the threat that needs to be protected against. 
Ambassador Gary Locke at East-West Center Conference in Beijing
According to an Asia Pacific Bulletin article, South China Sea: Not Just About Free Navigation, the United States is trying to ensue that smaller countries don't get steamrolled by China's increasing military might in the region.This may be at least partly true as illustrated by the U.S. involvement in the recent dispute between China and the Philippines over sovereignty of certain South China Sea islands.

 However, its not only China that can be unenthusiastic about American military presence in Asia. For example, while the Philippines may currently be considering allowing some American military aid to help deter China, it is important to remember that the Philippines kicked the American military out in the 1990s. While the Philippines may now view the U.S. as the lesser of two evils in terms of foreign military presence, this doesn't mean that Filipinos (or other Asians) want increased American military presence or view it as generally positive. Although it might be necessary in some instances to protect smaller countries, I think virtually all people would ideally prefer no foreign military presence within or near their borders.

Sep 1, 2012

Gary Locke at East-West Center Conference

Saturday, September 01, 2012
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I'm in Beijing for a conference hosted by the East-West Center and Peking University which started this morning with a keynote speech by U.S. Ambassador to China, Gary Locke (the first Chinese-American ambassador to China).


Locke has been the American ambassador to China for a year now and seems to be fairly popular with the Chinese, at least to the extent that they're aware of him. At first, many Chinese were puzzled by some of Locke' actions, not in his diplomatic role, but as a human being. As a high-level diplomat, Locke seemed to be behaving like an average person - waiting in line to buy coffee at Starbucks, flying economy class and carrying his own bag. This goes completely against the Chinese view of diplomats who are and expect to be treated like royalty. The Chinese with obsession with status and showing off that status can't be adequately described in words - you have to observe it to begin to appreciate its importance.

Locke's average guy persona certainly earned him some initial admiration among many Chinese as reflected by postings on Weibo, a Chinese microblogging/social networking site. According to a Washington Post article, the reason for the Chinese fascination with Locke is that "they see everything their own leaders are not. A Chinese parking lot security guard interviewed in this article stated that, after seeing a picture of Locke with his wife and children in an airport carrying their luggage, "Its unimaginable for a high Chinese official to move abroad like that." 

Locke's speech this morning at the East-West Center Conference was quite diplomatic, mostly stressing the need for cooperation between China and the U.S. He did, however, make a few controversial points - for example, suggesting that America's role in the security of Asia is readily acknowledged as a positive one. I'm pretty sure that quite a few Chinese (and other Asians) would disagree with this and instead wish that America would stick more to the role of minding its own business.

There were quite a large number of Chinese academics in the audience as well as those from the U.S. and other countries and Locke's speech seemed to go over pretty well. I'm not sure if he carried his own bag while at the conference, but I did notice one U.S. diplomatic vehicle parked outside the conference center which looked less ostentatious than the row of Audis and Mercedes (the two most popular automobile brands of Chinese officials). So, I don't think its too likely that Locke's average guy image will be able to bridge the Chinese-American cultural divide in the near future.

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