At least Obama’s sanctions plan for dealing with Iran – which seems to be Obama’s only plan for dealing with Iran – doesn’t hinge on Chinese cooperation. Because if it did then alienating China, in addition to risking a Cold War with an existing hostile nuclear power, would all but guarantee the creation of a second one. So as long as the White House never indicated that “it needed China’s support if progress is to be made in curbing Iran’s nuclear programme,” this shouldn’t be a big deal:
The American administration has been trying to undermine relations, the deputy head of Chinese Embassy in Israel said in a special interview with Ynet on the heels of the dispute that has unraveled between China and the United States. While the US is trying to garner Chinese support to impose sanctions on Iran, the Chinese official said that the recent tensions could harm political cooperation. Zhang Xiao’an… mentioned that in several occasions, China’s ties with new American president usually don’t start off so well, but gradually improve with time. She said that now, there is an opposite process – after Obama was elected last year, ties between China and the United States got off on the right foot, and ever since the recent developments have been deteriorating.
It appears that Obama rhetorically raised diplomatic expectations and then, discovering that many of his promises were naive and unworkable, failed to deliver. Unbelievable, I know.
In fairness US/Sino tensions were probably inevitable. Putting aside Taiwan, Tibet, human rights in general, our distrust of their largest-in-the-world dollar reserves, their distrust of our China-baiting economic populists, Sudan, Iran, North Korea, and the possibility that they’re taking potshots at our satellites – China is modernizing its military, developing a blue water navy, and projecting power into all kinds of places that we’re physically in. Eventually someone was going to bump into someone else – it was already happening – with the results being less than salutary for international stability.
And let’s be honest. China was never going to go along with sanctions anyway. If that wasn’t always obvious it should have been by last October, when Beijing boosted its ties with the mullahs despite international objections. China has two priorities: securing energy reserves to ensure economic vitality and preventing the international community from meddling in the internal affairs of human rights abusers. Both are at stake in Iran. They said as much last week, prompting Clinton to urge them to embrace – and these are quotes – a policy that would be “counterproductive” to the “needs” of their “growing economy.” Shockingly they declined to do that.
The exact same thing happened with climate change.
The White House knew carbon restrictions conflict with China’s fundamental interests. Obama went to Copenhagen anyway. He was either hoping that the Chinese would just forget or he was counting on his super-keen diplomatic savvy to outflank them. Unsurprisingly they stiffed him. The FP writeup on the fiasco begins with “Obama… set a clever trap for Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao” and ends with “given the desperation to announce a ‘deal,’ Obama backed down.”
Back in November Obama took a trip to China. It was, by all accounts, a total failure for anyone who wasn’t a Chinese diplomat interested in making a spectacle out of a weak US President. Anderson Cooper went so far as to compare it to Kennedy’s confrontation with Khrushchev, suggesting that it would force Obama to reevaluate his priorities and stop relying on Beijing. That obviously didn’t happen. Instead decisions about potential nuclear wars are still being made on the premise that China can be brought on board.
It might be that this President is so ideologically committed to engagement that he’s prone to excusing away its failure rather than approaching the world realistically. It just might be.
References:
* US calls for Chinese support on Iran nuclear issue [AFP]
* Chinese diplomat: Ties with US deteriorated recently [YNet]
* China now the top holder of U.S. debt [FP Passport]
* China editorial slams ‘Buy American’ provision [Seattle Times]
* Uhh… Did You Know That China Used ASATs Against The US? [MR]
* Pentagon: Chinese Ships Harassed Unarmed Navy Craft in International Waters [Fox News]
* Obama Blocking Congressional Sanctions On Iran (Plus: China’s Newest Foot-Dragging Excuse: We’re Too Busy!) [MR]
* Clenched But China Is Still Committed To Indefinitely Blocking Sanctions [IIFSC]
* Clenched, Having Brazenly Blown Off Yet Another Toothless Obama Deadline [IIFSC]
* Clenched But China Still Says No Sanctions [IIFSC]
* Chinese leader dashes hope for sanctions against Iran [Ha'aretz]
* China still leery on U.S. sanctions push for Iran
* Clinton warns China to stay the course on Iran nuclear sanctions [LAT]
* How China Stiffed the World in Copenhagen [FP]
* Obama in China: A wake-up call! [CNN]
* Obama: We’re Giving Iran More Time Because Of Their “Unsettled Political Situation” [MR]
Related Mere Rhetoric Categories:
* China
* Engagement
* Diplomacy
