China Isn't Ready To Lead The World

IBD Editorials ^ | January 19, 2011 | Staff

[Kaslin]

China: Listening to the media, you'd think Chinese President Hu Jintao's U.S. trip is nothing less than a symbolic transfer of world leadership from an America in decline to a China in ascendancy. Not by a long shot.

With all our problems, it's almost fashionable these days to speak of the U.S. as a world power on the wane. One thoughtful piece after another bemoans the nation's problems and its inevitable slippage into irrelevance. This, in fact, is the subtext of President Obama's talks with President Hu.

Obama gave this credence by giving Hu — whom Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid correctly called a "dictator" — a state dinner, something that President Bush refused to do.

Why the obsequiousness? China is the country of the future, we're told. What Walter Lippman dubbed the American Century died in 2001; this century belongs to China.

The arrogant rhetoric of China's leaders encourages such thinking. That includes remarks by Hu, who on Wednesday asserted the U.S. dollar must yield to China's yuan as the world's leading currency, and who seems to believe China is ready to elbow us aside.

All this, however, is little more than bluster.

[Emperor Palpatine]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.

Truman should have listened to MacArthur instead of firing him.

[K-Stater]

China doesn’t want to lead the world, they want to run it.

[rbmillerjr]

Excellent read.

We are not done yet, just anchored by the debt from believing in Socialism.

We will recover and prosper.

[rbmillerjr]

Oh, I hope Obama doesn’t agree to annexation by China lol.

[grapeape]

If China wants to lead the world, I say they can have it. That's right I said it. Let the rest of the world see what it is like when America isn't around to clean things up. I'm sick of leading the rest of the world. Sure, I like Australia and some other countries but for the most part the rest of them can go jump off a cliff. China, knock yourself out!

[oyez]

We should stop all our foreign aid, bring in our troops, give our Navy a rest and give the Peace Corps a sabbatical. When the next big over seas disaster happens we can watch China rush in and offer butt loads of assistance. Heh,heh.

[43north]

I fully expect that this b@st@rd obummer will do whatever is against the interests of the USA.

Hey governor abercrombie, where’s that birth certificate you were going to produce you slimy lieberal dumbocrat?

[grapeape]

That's what I'm thinking. Except I wanna cut our expenses across the board. Drastically. I probably want to go much further than most.

[flowerplough]

Imprisoned Nobel dissidents, state approval requirements for government churches, mandatory abortions... China isn’t ready to lead China.