Vicious Rants of an Angry Yellow Man

I am sure Obama is glad to be on the way home to face the economic crisis, the healthcare debate and Sarah Palin's book. He is glad to be out of Asia because this was his most difficult foreign trip since becoming president. While he was received warmly by the masses in Asia, he was not the rock star that went to Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Other than getting support from Russian president Medvedev on Iran, he didn't get much of anything else, especially in China.

Obama's critic is all over him for appearing weak on the trip. They even criticized him for bowing to the emperor of Japan. This is absurd. Bowing is a form of politeness in much of Asia, especially Japan. The old saying, "when in Rome do what the Romans do", apply here. I mean, what about Bush kissing the king of Saudi Arabia and holding his hand? I find that way more gross! But in all seriousness there is a sense of American power abroad eroding even before this trip. In the past the American president will have been able to work out agreements that he wanted before leaving home. This way it looks like he accomplished something on the trip. Now other contries are not afraid to tell the U.S. "no" ahead of time. I think Obama knows that he had to repair a lot of damage from the past and he cannot show up arrogant and demand things.

The economic crisis also makes it hard for Obama on this trip. In the past American officials can tell China and others that if they want economic growth they have to follow the U.S. With China being our lender now, we can't afford to lecture. As a result Obama did not get anything in regard to Iran, North Korea or the Chinese currency situation. China depends on Iran for oil, and the U.S. depends on China to buy our treasury bills, so why would China offend Iran to please us? China holds a lot of American dollars, so why would it increase the value its currency vs the dollar so that its investment value immediately decrease? Given this situation why would China listen to Obama about Tibet?

There is one good sign that I have not seen anyone talk about. That is Obama was allowed to speak to students in Shanghai. Even though the town hall style meeting was not broadcast on Chinese national tv, it could be seen over the internet without censorship. The setting is significant because Shanghai is where Fudan University is located. The three top universities in China are Peking, Quinghua and Fudan. The first two are both located in Bejing and are where most of the Chinese leaderships came from. Peking is most conservative and Quinghua is more technological. Of the three Fudan is by far the most liberal and has the most relations with international intellectuals. Fudan annually hosts a conference for college students from the Pacific rim which includes the U.S., Russia, Cananda, Australia in addition to Asian countries. My daughter attended the conference couple of years ago and said that there were very open discussions about human rights, Taiwan and Tibet. Chinese professors were openly critical of their own country on these issues without fear of censorship. I think if the future leaders of China come out Fudan instead of Peking or Quinghua, then I think China will become more democratic. The fact that China allowed Obama to speak near Fudan instead of Bejing is a good sign I believe.