OUR NATION'S comatose China policy is beginning to lag in strong leadership as President Bush bends over backward with his apology to China. As every day went by during the standoff, the United States lost face among its allies for not standing up for servicemen held against their will in a foreign communist nation with direct and immediate action. This comes early in the Bush administration, as the world is looking to see what kind of leadership he might offer. If the past few weeks are any indication of the future, then we may be in for a rough ride.
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Foreign policy may not be the most pressing issue for the U.S. as it faces an economic downturn. But it is perhaps the most important of Bush's policies because other nations look to America as a model for international interaction, which could have ramifications for the shape of international power. The Cold War has been over for 10 years now, but a definite new world order has not yet formed. The United States plays a critical role in the way international power will be aligned. Bush's latest policies have hurt this country's solidarity in the approaching world order.
Not since the Reagan administration has this nation had to deal with Cold War issues, and Bush has been trying to recreate new boundaries to replace the old ones. He kicked out a number of Russian diplomats thought to be spying or needlessly using their diplomatic status. Bush has made inflammatory statements against nations such as North Korea. He drew the lines of his neighborhood visiting Mexican President Vincente Fox early in the administration.
Bush made bold statements drawing the lines on communism and human rights abuses. He backed his words by bombing Iraq in February. His statements coupled with his actions created are indications of his developing foreign policy.
So far Bush has talked tough, but his bombings of Iraq hardly can be construed as an American risk to secure its influence abroad. Bush is becoming a vocal leader without any active participation in the world. His leadership resembles that of third world leaders who have agendas but no power to back them up. Minimizing military activity around the world is one thing, but refusing to stand up to a second-world country like China is only backing down from an enemy. The crew that had been detained since April 1 should have been brought back at all costs within a week. The crew broke no international law, except landing without permission. This, however, was done in an emergency situation.
China claims its borders differently than the rest of the world. International law allows 30 miles of water to be claimed as sovereign territory where the rest is international water. China claims 200 miles off the coast as its exclusive economic zone. This policy brings the Chinese claims into conflict with many other southeast Asian nations' territorial claims.
China has insisted that the U.S. plane was flying in its territory when the Chinese pilot was struck down. Our apology was testimony to our perceived weakness. It's tantamount to conceding to China's terms on these territorial disputes. China doesn't need to be our enemy, but it must not push us around.
The post-Cold War world needs a leader to promote human rights, oversee revolutions into peaceful democratic governments and provide economic leadership in an unsure time. The United States still has the greatest military in the world, by far. It will need to fight regional attempts to form groups to challenge its global authority for the effect of changing international norms.
The European Union and infant organizations in East Asia may prove to be major challenges to the U.S. economy in the coming century. Instead of a uni-polar power structure we may evolve into a multi-polar structure with Europe and Asia as alternate major economies. By antagonizing countries with changing leadership, President Bush is only bolstering anti-U.S. sentiment in places like North Korea, North Vietnam, Russia and Burma and creating a common enemy for their current regimes. Prolonging the existence of enemy rulers and driving one part of the world into a common anti-U.S. block is counterproductive to the nation's interest. Bush needs to be patient when there is no issue to criticize.
In China, the president was faced with a direct challenge to the national interest. Military servicemen and women were held without consent, and a foreign government broke international law by holding our men, women and plane as a bargaining tool. Now is the time when all nations are looking to see what kind of leadership the United States will provide when the time comes, and Bush failed. In the face of a potential enemy, America is bent over backward when it could have met them face to face. When our national interest is directly at stake, such as it was in China over the past few weeks, Bush must take immediate action.
(Matt West is a Cavalier Daily viewpoint writer.)
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