A very quick word on China's Best Friend
As you all know, George Bush passed away a few days ago.
I've written alot of him, here and there, deep in the archives.
When it came to friends, China had them in high places.
China in 1989 needed George Bush in power. Because of him they were eventually granted MFN status(look it up).
Because of him, when times were tough, real tough, real "ugly bad" , he looked the other way. He once even sent envoys to China to "drink champagne" while the entire West was screaming for blood.
George Bush was China's great "explainer". He looked the other way on so many things, explained away so many things, all with the great belief that China would someday change and "be like us".
I wrote a brief post about him on WeChat. I even posted his picture. Several people asked me who he was. One asked me if he was my dad!
The rise of China has been blessed with very, very good timing. George while president actual hinted he would be his own China Expert. And he was.
The guy lived in Beijing for 14 months. Couldn't speak the language. And yet America believed he was indeed our China Expert. A man comfortable in a pinstripe suit surrounded by green mao hats. A man that only met Mao once, and maybe not even Zhou En Lai.
And yet we believed him when he said he "knew" China. Because he did. Rather, he knew that sliver strata, that niche within Zhongnanhai that mattered.
George Bush was the last American President to meet Mao. And to the Chinese that meant something. No Chinese leader since Deng Xiaoping can say the same thing.
George Bushes legacy is clear; he may be the last American Patrician to ever be President. Because of him, we believed China would some day "come around". We gave George the benefit of the doubt. And as a result wasted 20 damn years.
It will be quite awhile before we have an American President preach the "let capitalism do it's work" speech. Because what you are selling....that's snake oil folks!
Let our belief in George Bush be a monument not perhaps to our stupidity, but rather in our naivete towards the Heavenly Kingdom. A reflection of our very childlike ignorance of what others are capable of becoming. Let our Belief in Bush be an inglorious light that never stops shining upon our own cultural ineptitude.
Let us not make the same mistake again.
I've written alot of him, here and there, deep in the archives.
When it came to friends, China had them in high places.
China in 1989 needed George Bush in power. Because of him they were eventually granted MFN status(look it up).
Because of him, when times were tough, real tough, real "ugly bad" , he looked the other way. He once even sent envoys to China to "drink champagne" while the entire West was screaming for blood.
George Bush was China's great "explainer". He looked the other way on so many things, explained away so many things, all with the great belief that China would someday change and "be like us".
I wrote a brief post about him on WeChat. I even posted his picture. Several people asked me who he was. One asked me if he was my dad!
The rise of China has been blessed with very, very good timing. George while president actual hinted he would be his own China Expert. And he was.
The guy lived in Beijing for 14 months. Couldn't speak the language. And yet America believed he was indeed our China Expert. A man comfortable in a pinstripe suit surrounded by green mao hats. A man that only met Mao once, and maybe not even Zhou En Lai.
And yet we believed him when he said he "knew" China. Because he did. Rather, he knew that sliver strata, that niche within Zhongnanhai that mattered.
George Bush was the last American President to meet Mao. And to the Chinese that meant something. No Chinese leader since Deng Xiaoping can say the same thing.
George Bushes legacy is clear; he may be the last American Patrician to ever be President. Because of him, we believed China would some day "come around". We gave George the benefit of the doubt. And as a result wasted 20 damn years.
It will be quite awhile before we have an American President preach the "let capitalism do it's work" speech. Because what you are selling....that's snake oil folks!
Let our belief in George Bush be a monument not perhaps to our stupidity, but rather in our naivete towards the Heavenly Kingdom. A reflection of our very childlike ignorance of what others are capable of becoming. Let our Belief in Bush be an inglorious light that never stops shining upon our own cultural ineptitude.
Let us not make the same mistake again.
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