It’s a sunny day in the hutong, cold outside but the sun is shining nicely off the snow packed on the roof of our kitchen and bathroom and reflecting brilliantly into the living room. We moved our plants inside two weeks ago and they are enjoying the sun bath almost as much as the two cats, currently going at it UFC-style for largest patch of sunbeam on the couch.
Much happening in Beijing this week the arrival of two celebrated visitors. President Obama touches down later this week (more on this in a moment), and Richard of The Peking Duck makes his triumphant return to the city of snow and smog after his much lamented mid-summer departure.
Lots has also been made of Qin Gang’s ill-advised historical analogizing. Many Chinese netizens (the usual suspects) are applauding the Foreign Ministry spokesperson’s linkage of the CCP’s handling of the Tibet with the President Lincoln and the American Civil War. Others, perhaps with a little more nuance and perspective, are questioning the wisdom of Qin Gang. China watchers are used to daft historical statements made by cadres and officials for domestic Chinese consumption, but this was the Foreign Ministry trying to make a
Karl Eikenberry and the lessons of Vinegar Joe
President Obama is flying to Asia this week with much on his mind: Should the US commit another 40,000 troops to the war in Afghanistan as stories of official incompetence and political corruption leak daily from the capital of Kabul?
If Britain’s curse was her imperial ambitions, the United States has its hegemonic aspirations. We are once again supporting a regime in a country turned hostile against both the United States. Our support is critical to the success of the current Afghan government, but it is that very (and very public) support which may well ultimately doom the administration of Hamid Karzai as it did to Fulgencia Batista or the government of South Vietnam following the assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem.
Three simple rules:
In wars of attrition, the longer it lasts the greater the advantage for the home team. No matter how noble a politician may be, the more he depends on an outside force to maintain his position and power, the less legitimate his administration will seem in the eyes of his fellow countrymen. If you have your own people on the ground, listen to them. They’re seeing things you’re not.
All of these rules apply to the