於貔抱者、於龍戡者 (Of panda-huggers and dragon-slayers)

A little something for the first of October. 祝大家國慶節快樂! Also, a happy belated 2,562nd birthday to Master Zhongni!

Dr Amitai Etzioni, founder of the Communitarian Network used both these terms (‘panda-huggers’ and ‘dragon-slayers’, which I’ve translated into Chinese as 貔抱者 and 龍戡者, respectively – though, to be fully accurate, the 貔貅 pixiu actually refers to a benevolent mythical creature which is thought to be associated in antiquity with the giant panda) to describe what he sees as a growing polarisation in American foreign policy – no longer between ‘hawks’ and ‘doves’, these categories correspond strictly to how the United States should approach its foreign policy with China. The issue is whether we should view China as a foreign policy threat or as a possible foreign policy partner.

Dr Etzioni places himself with a slight note of reticence in the ‘panda-hugger’ camp (where I gladly join him). On the ‘dragon-slayer’ side is Dr Aaron Friedberg of Princeton University, writing for the Wall Street Journal, for the New York Times and for various other venues on how China should be seen primarily as a rising threat to our power and interests. Dr Friedberg, though he uses quite a bit of realist language, actually ultimately argues from a liberal perspective, emphasising the differences in ideology between China and the United States in terms of the vision of each nation for the future of East Asia and using this factor to drive his point home that the interests of the United States and China might diverge in the near future. There may be a point to this – as witnessed by the ongoing flame war between the 五毛黨 and the 五美分黨 (the ‘Five Jiao Party’ and the ‘Nickel Party’; pejorative terms used for the online sockpuppets of the Chinese and American governments, respectively), many observers (and perhaps the governments of the US and China themselves) view the US and China as ideologically at odds in several respects.

But, very worth reading also are Dr Etzioni’s pieces on the same subject: ‘Is China a Responsible Stakeholder?’ and ‘Who’s Afraid of the Chinese?’. In the first, he puts forward the argument that China, though its performance in the past on issues of being a responsible member of the international community and a responsible citizen under international law has been, shall we say, chequered, he also notes that China’s government is increasingly cognisant of international obligations and standards, and ever more willing to abide by a set of norms observed and encouraged amongst the nations of the developed West. Further evidence of this has been China’s understated cooperation with the Obama Administration’s demands to back off from their support of Iran’s nuclear ambitions. He notes that, no, China does not live up to these standards – but then, very few nations actually do, including nations to whose abuses we are wont to turn a blind eye (like Saudi Arabia or Pakistan); and that one’s attitude toward China is different depending on one’s normative and positive interpretations of the role of the United States in global affairs. Are we a hegemon, or are we another player in an increasingly multipolar world?

The other article engages in a little more realpolitik. China, by any rational standard, cannot hope to compete with the US in terms of sheer ‘hard power’, even within its own sphere of influence: much of their military equipment is out-of-date, and what they do purchase they purchase on a budget one-sixth the size of ours; there is relatively scanty proof that China harbours any ambition of militarily dominating even its own region; and their own security is best assured at this juncture by ensuring their population’s basic needs of food, clothing, shelter, education and vocation.

I tend to take Dr Etzioni’s view of things, thus perhaps making me a member of the Panda-Huggers. China’s government is, sad to say, currently not as effective as it ought to be even at doing the things they ought to be doing – like taking care of their own more vulnerable members. (One hopes that President Hu and Premier Wen continue on their present course, and that the sage advice of Dr Wang Hui and Dr Cui Zhiyuan may have more impact in the future than it presently appears.) I do admit to being rather leery of our continued volume of overseas trade with China, as much for conservationist and distributist economic reasons as for geopolitical ones (such trade does precious little to benefit the small farmers and 個體戶 getihu small-business owners in China, or in the US), but thankfully I do not believe that continued good relations need rely on an unjust and unsustainable form of economic dependence.

Happy Saturday evening to my Pitt friends, and Happy National Day to my Chinese friends! Try not to get too drunk!