I am sure China cannot decide whether to grin in schadenfreude or grit its teeth in tension as it watches the absurd political theater playing out in Washington over the debt ceiling. So it has decided to play it safe and be condescending.
However, it is a clear sign that global power no longer resides predominantly in Washington when China feels compelled to tell US politicians to end their “irresponsible” brinkmanship over increasing their country’s debt ceiling.
As President Barack Obama grapples with the very real possibility of the US defaulting on its international obligations for the first time in its history unless the debt ceiling is raised by the Congress, Beijing must be shuffling in nervousness. Being the largest holder of US treasuries at $1.6 trillion the last thing the Chinese government wants is for the US to fail to meet its obligations in a matter of days.
In so much as the Chinese news agency Xinhua reflects the official Chinese thinking, there is a damning analysis of the US by one of its analysts, Deng Yushan who writes, “Two subjects are of pressing urgency: How can Washington shake off electoral politics and get difficult jobs done more efficiently? And how can U.S. politicians improve their mindset so that they will care at least a bit more about the rest of the world when handling domestic affairs with global reverberations?
Another ready topic is the United States' debt addiction. With its debt approximating its annual economic output, it is time for Washington to revisit the time-tested common sense that one should live within one's means.”
To make sure that there is no ambiguity in what Deng is saying, the headline to his short analysis reads “Bring some sense of global responsibility to brinkmanship-obsessed Washington.” Apart from asking the US to engage in “an in-depth self-examination”, Deng reminds America that “the ugliest part of the saga is that the well-being of many other countries is also in the impact zone when the donkey and the elephant fight.” The donkey being the most recognizable emblem of Obama’s Democratic Party and the elephant being that of the Republican Party.
Objectively, everything that Deng says is correct. Merely because it is coming from China, a place which has a direct vested interest in America’s economic fortunes, both in their ascendancy and their decline, does not make it of questionable value.
My friend and fellow journalist ( and now a Pakistan scholar) Andy McCord had once quoted the popular Sanskrit maxim “Vinash kaley viprit buddhi” to the crusty Indian politician Devi Lal in the early 1990s. Perhaps Andy should call his few politician friends in Washington and cite the maxim. Incidentally, the maxim means that one’s mind goes out of whack when faced with destruction.
