Before Preaching to Other Nations, the United States Must Reform Itself
Is it time
for the United States to stop standing up for human rights and democratic
reform in other nations and start taking its own advice at home? According to
this article by fictitious Communist Party columnist Ding
Gang, U.S. presidents should stop inflaming China by meeting the Dalai Lama and
selling weapons to democratic Taiwan and start figuring out how the U.S. fits
into the 21st century world.
The world has a country that is always very keen to promote political reform in other countries. It
likes to help other nations design road maps for political reform, because it
believes its own politics are supreme. The problems of other countries all appear tied
to their political systems, while the problems of this country have nothing to do with its
political system. The country in question is the United States of America.
They use their own political rules to compete with
other countries and force others to accept the way they play the game
domestically. One might say that from the beginning, this competition has been
unfair.
For example, a few days ago President Obama met the
Dalai Lama at the White House. Didn't the U.S. government know that this would
seriously damage China-U.S. relations? Apparently not. This is the kind of
morality that the White House practices. But the White House doesn't have the
final say - particularly one in such a disadvantaged position. Today, deeply entangled
in domestic and foreign affairs difficulties, the Obama Administration can only
do what Congress members allow it to do.
On the surface, it would appear that such a balance would
be conducive to U.S. national interests. But in fact, because the government is
so constrained and has such difficulty moving ahead, how does this fit into the
long-term interests of the United States? Congressional bickering over the
debt ceiling is illustrative. During these "passionate" debates by Congressional politicians,
people watched as they advocated on behalf of their respective interest groups
rather than the long-term interests of the people - let alone those of the rest
of the world. As was stated in an editorial from Britain's Financial Times, "this is an astonishing, deplorable and
unacceptable way for the U.S. to conduct its affairs."
Voting and Congressional politics constrains the White
House from achieving its political vision and inhibits its decision-making
power, making the U.S. administration increasingly vulnerable. This has fully
exposed the dilemma of the United States political system. If this problem isn't
resolved, U.S. leaders will continue to do things like meet the Dalai Lama and
sell weapons to Taiwan, demonstrating that the U.S. does not regard China as a
true partner.
Whenever such incidents have occurred, there has always
been lots of U.S. media commentary that concluded, simply put, that these are issues
dictated by American politics, Congress is under pressure, and there is little Washington
can do to change it. Yet that is where the commentary stopped, which is
tantamount to saying: "This is American politics. Whether you like it or
not, you have to accept it."
That is unfair and ensures the instability of China-U.S.
relations. Looked
at from the diverse and multi-tiered development of China-U.S. relations over
recent years, it is time for the U.S. to radically change and break
"tradition." China's growth and development unequivocally
demonstrates that continuing this American political tradition it no longer
feasible for the conduct and improvement of China-U.S. relations. The U.S has reached
the point that it must reform its political system and break its so-called
political traditions in order to adapt to an increasingly powerful China.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Doesn’t the United States always find fault with the human
rights and political systems of developing countries? Instead of being so
concerned with promoting political reform in other nations, why doesn't the
U.S. follow its own advice, take its medicine and help itself? That would perhaps do the
most to help strengthen America's "soft power."
*According
to The Washington Post, the author of this article, Ding Gang, is
frequently assigned to analyses particularly important to the Beijing
leadership. Chinese journalists say they believe it is a pen name used by
senior editors or other party propaganda officials to convey official points of
view.
