Beijing is wary of Obama's assertive China policy

[ellisonz]

Beijing is wary of Obama's assertive China policy

By Christopher Bodeen
Associated Press
POSTED: 12:42 p.m. HST, Nov 17, 2011

BEIJING>> President Barack Obama's sudden moves to contest rising Chinese power are setting this capital on edge, even if in public the response has been muted.

During his ongoing nine-day swing through the Asia-Pacific region, Obama has already unveiled a plan for an expanded U.S. Marines presence in Australia, advocated a new free-trade area that leaves China out, and called on Beijing not to buck the current world order.

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Meanwhile, state media are warning of a new U.S. containment strategy.

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Beijing can ill afford a serious rift with Washington. The normally risk-averse authoritarian leadership is preparing for a politically tricky handover of power to a new generation of leaders next year. And, while the U.S. suffers from high joblessness, anemic growth and other economic woes, China also is challenged by a slowing of its robust growth that could see unemployment and banks' bad loans rise at a time when Chinese have come to expect ever-higher standards of living.

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"I said that wherever these people, meaning the Soviet leadership, confronted us with dangerous hostility anywhere in the world, we should do everything possible to contain it and not let them expand any further. I should have explained that I didn't suspect them of any desire to launch an attack on us. This was right after the war, and it was absurd to suppose that they were going to turn around and attack the United States. I didn't think I needed to explain that, but I obviously should have done it."

- George Kennan - Interview on Online NewsHour : "George Kennan" (PBS) (18 April 1996)

[WCGreen]

1. Love the quote from Kennan....

[ellisonz]

2. Another good one:

“It is an undeniable privilege of every man to prove himself right in the thesis that the world is his enemy; for if he reiterates it frequently enough and makes it the background of his conduct he is bound eventually to be right.”
― George F. Kennan