Communist China is a Free Country!

[Spence]

That's what George W Bush says (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031022-12.html):
We are encouraged by China's cooperation in the war against terror. We are working with China to ensure the Korean peninsula is free of nuclear weapons. We see a China that is stable and prosperous, a nation that respects the peace of its neighbors and works to secure the freedom of its own people. Oh, just imagine how the right-wingers would howl if President Clinton had said something like that!

[Skinzaholic]

Ummmm... pssst... Spence.... you totally missed what our President was saying on this one. Here is the WHOLE quote...


Your country is hosting President Hu Jintao. Australia's agenda with China is the same as my country's. We're encouraged by China's cooperation in the war on terror. We're working with China to ensure the Korean Peninsula is free of nuclear weapons. We see a China that is stable and prosperous -- a nation that respects the peace of its neighbors and works to secure the freedom of its own people.


This is cleary meant by our President as a form of positive reinforcement. For starters, he was speaking in futuristic form... "We see a China"... not we currently see... or we have seen... but we see (in the future) a China with the following ideals. This will come to pass by our hard work and dedication to the task. Second... notice that Australia also has the SAME agenda... Guess other world leaders have a prophetic vision... unlike the nearsighted ones we have seen in the past.

Also, did ya notice the mouthy Senators drug screaming and kicking from the House floor? Must have been more Dumocrats with no facts, simply big mouths.

[Spence]

Positive reinforcement? China is a country that executes thousands of people a year [even more than Texas!] with no rights given to the accused. Abortions are forced upon women who do not want them, democrats [notice the lower-case d] are roughed up, imprisoned, confined to insane asylums, and even killed. Freedom of the press and religion is non-existent.

Positive reinforcement? How about standing up for good old-fashioned American ideals? You know, the way President Clinton did when he went to China late in his second term and told the Chinese premier to his face, before a live national audience, that China should hold free elections and release all political prisoners. Something like that.

Come on, Kev. If Clinton had engaged in this sort of mealy-mouthed "positive reinforcement," you'd be outraged. And you know it.

[Skinzaholic]

Truthfully... I am reading this much different from you. I may be seeing it wrong, but I see Bush attempting to motivate China to continue moving toward more "humane" decisions. I see him saying that China is for once making a good move by helping address N. Korea's retarded notions and that IF THIS KEEPS UP we can all look forward to a brighter future with a Free China in the world.

What would be better? To down size the miitary to a small fraction of force and over develop our Welfare system, all the while cowering as Communist China (and N Korea for that matter) grows stronger until they eventually overpower us?

Put Gore in power... that is what you will see.

How happy I am that we have a President that not only continues Reagan's "Peace through Strength" approach, but also speaks in the positive when those nations still stuck in the past failed attempts at Communism make even a tiny step towards a free future.

[higgybaby]

agreed, I read W's quote the same way as you, skinz

[Spence]

Kev, your comments about what VP Gore would have done in the White House do not merit comment, so I won't.

Bush is urging China to "continue moving toward" more humane government? I'm still waiting for them to start! Guess who agrees with me. The Bush administration. Have a look at what Mr Bush's State Department has to say about human rights in China (http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001/eap/8289.htm). It's a shame Mr Bush didn't mention any of these things. I guess he thinks he does not really need to, since none of his supporters are willing to question him on anything, ever, at any time.

[Skinzaholic]

Tom, I still stick to how I am reading Bush's comments. The very definition of "starting to move toward humane practices" is probably the place of contention. The report you cited is over a year old... clearly before the N. Korea incident heated up.

I still feel Pres. Bush is speaking about China's motion of intervention with N. Korea as a "step forward". Sure, not a large step... but progress none the less. I think he is simply acknowledging that progress as a good thing.

Also, why do you feel my comments about VP Gore do not merit comment? I simply summed up views that the Democratic Party as a whole place as important and then injected them into a senerio depicting our modern day political climate. Perhaps I speculated on Gore's actual response to the current threat... but it is speculation based on past decisions on the part of his administration.

[RedskinsDave]

Funny, I don't remember China being a bastion of oppression to the left when Clinton gave them most favored nation status. Considering Clinton's actions regarding China, any liberal should've been wise enough to leave this statement alone regardless of how you read it.

[Spence]

Originally posted by RedskinsDave
Funny, I don't remember China being a bastion of oppression to the left when Clinton gave them most favored nation status. Considering Clinton's actions regarding China, any liberal should've been wise enough to leave this statement alone regardless of how you read it. Your facts are screwy, Dave. China enjoyed MFN long before Bill Clinton became president. Giving China MFN was a policy supported by both President G.H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton during the 1992 campaign.

[Spence]

Mr Bush also hosted the dictator of Uzbekistan at the White House and gave him $500 million in aid, even though Mr Bush's own State Department asserts that the Uzbek dictator has his political opponents boiled in oil.

Yeah, you read that right. He has them lowered into vats of boiling water, torturing them to death. Mr Bush hosted him at the White House, praised him, and gave him $500 million.

Oh, wait. That would be terrible! It couldn't have been George W Bush. It must have been Bill Clinton's penis in disguise.