Monday, March 21, 2005
A Good Win
Team Bush came away with a key victory lately, when the EU conceded that lifting the arms embargo against China might not be such a good idea after all. Maybe the decision was due to the immense storm of executive and legislative pressure against the move leaving an EU envoy "pummelled." Or China's promise to attack Taiwan if it made any moves hinting at independence might have been a factor.
This is, of course, good news. EU policy on this, led by the usual suspect, Jacques Chirac, was deeply irresponsible (but what does one expect of the French anyway). As Tom Friedman sagely put it, it represented the distasteful image of pacifists selling arms - arms likely to be used to drive US forces away from Taiwan and to subdue the island.
China seems more intent on bludgeoning the Taiwanese into fearful submission than wooing them with its enchanting market and their shared culture. This is one of the more grievous geopolitical mistakes being made today, but it may take less time to construct another Great Wall than to persuade Beijing that its policy is deeply counterproductive. The EU might play a role to that end. Or it could just whore itself to sell Airbuses. Stay tuned - the embargo issue will resurface again.
Team Bush came away with a key victory lately, when the EU conceded that lifting the arms embargo against China might not be such a good idea after all. Maybe the decision was due to the immense storm of executive and legislative pressure against the move leaving an EU envoy "pummelled." Or China's promise to attack Taiwan if it made any moves hinting at independence might have been a factor.
This is, of course, good news. EU policy on this, led by the usual suspect, Jacques Chirac, was deeply irresponsible (but what does one expect of the French anyway). As Tom Friedman sagely put it, it represented the distasteful image of pacifists selling arms - arms likely to be used to drive US forces away from Taiwan and to subdue the island.
China seems more intent on bludgeoning the Taiwanese into fearful submission than wooing them with its enchanting market and their shared culture. This is one of the more grievous geopolitical mistakes being made today, but it may take less time to construct another Great Wall than to persuade Beijing that its policy is deeply counterproductive. The EU might play a role to that end. Or it could just whore itself to sell Airbuses. Stay tuned - the embargo issue will resurface again.
