Posted on 11/01/2004 4:37:49 PM PST by maui_hawaii
BEIJING - (KRT) - The Bush administration has embraced a "catastrophic" go-it-alone strategy in world affairs that may topple the United States from global dominance, China said Monday in an unusual official commentary.
China's leaders have been widely believed to favor President Bush's re-election Tuesday because ties between the countries have improved in the past four years. But the attack cast doubt on that belief.
The commentary was written by Qian Qichen, a former vice premier who's one of the architects of China's foreign policy. It appeared on the Web sites of the English-language newspaper China Daily and the Communist Party's People's Daily.
Qian argued that Bush's unilateral anti-terrorism policies had made the United States more unpopular around the globe than at any time in decades.
"The philosophy of the `Bush doctrine' is in essence force. It advocates the United States should rule over the whole world with overwhelming force, military force in particular," Qian wrote.
He argued that the U.S. policy of pre-emptive force would bring about "absolute insecurity of the `American Empire' and its demise because of expansion it cannot cope with."
The Bush administration is "practicing the same catastrophic strategy applied by former empires in history," Qian said.
The U.S.-led attack on Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein's regime unsettled the Muslim world and presented Washington with a "Pandora's box" of ethnic and religious conflict in the Middle East, Qian wrote. The war also destroyed the anti-terrorism coalition and helped the al-Qaida terrorist network recruit followers, he added.
"The current U.S. predicament in Iraq serves as another example that when a country's superiority psychology inflates beyond its real capability, a lot of trouble can be caused," Qian said.
"But the troubles and disasters the United States has met do not stem from the threats by others, but from its own cocksureness and arrogance."
The commentary was unusual because China traditionally doesn't comment on U.S. candidates before presidential elections. The commentary didn't mention Sen. John Kerry, Bush's opponent.
China's press is so tightly controlled that such a commentary couldn't appear if it didn't reflect the beliefs of the senior leadership. As a former foreign minister, Qian helped China break out of international isolation after the 1989 massacre that ended democracy protests at Tiananmen Square.
China has offered quiet support for the U.S.-led global war on terrorism, using the campaign to shield criticism of its efforts to crush dissent among the Muslim Uighur minority in its far west. But China joined France, Germany and Russia in opposing the war on Iraq, and it bristles at what it calls American unilateralism.
U.S. relations with China hit a low point in 1999, when U.S. warplanes accidentally bombed China's Embassy in Belgrade, and again took a hit in April 2001 when a U.S. EP-3 surveillance plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet and was forced down on China's Hainan Island for a 13-day standoff.
Relations have warmed remarkably since then, spurred by increasing trade and behind-the-scenes diplomatic engagement between the capitals on a variety of issues.
Et tu Brutus.... ??
This is a sign we are doing the right things.
Hey Red China--those first meetings with President Bush's representatives after his reelection should be pretty interesting. Hope you guys can bow really low.
Screw them who are they to say anything about anyone And that includes Bastard Joe Stalin The worthless slimy hypocrites can kiss my backside. Also They have their own Muslim problem..
Another fine endorsement for Kerry. WILL AMERICA WAKE UP IN TIME???
why 'lil wiffies spend several hundred billions a year at wal-mart, which comes from china, is beyond me.
we should build economies that are our friends, not our enemies.
Commies for Kerry!
Fascist Monkeys-in-Suits Bump.
Who's "China"?
FMCDH(BITS)
Everybody is trying to influence our election... China, UBL, and even the U.N. acting like it has taken a tough stance on Iran and N. Korea (shya, and monkeys might fly out of my butt)
All the more reason to avoid Chinese products, as if the Red business wasn't enough.
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