While I have always thought GW Bush to be inadequate as a world leader, he has since demonstrated to my satisfaction that he may be inadequate in basic foreign policy. Unless he is a genius at strategy, it seems he has let Chinese national interests and their censored, fabricated, and crafted point of view dominate American media for the last two days. He seems helpless, maybe confused or even lost. It is obvious that the Chinese knew exactly what to do about this latest incident from day one. We are now the shame and laughingstock of the world for the second time since the Florida recount.
In case anyone is wondering what makes Chinese culture tick, please refer to the following tourist cites and especially note the parts about “saving face” since it is NO LAUGHING MATTER in Chinese culture and completely separates our culture from theirs. (In this case we are being set-up to lose face in China via propaganda, not as a mere faux pas):
http://www.culturalsavvy.com/chinese_culture.htm
http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/1999/09/18/print/0000003024
http://www.executiveplanet.com/community/items/957775356673_en.asp?section=China
My advice to GW Bush:
ADMIT YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND CHINESE CULTURE, and pretend that they bluffed you and took advantage of your ignorance and inexperience (this is important, not only because it is true, but it will make the Chinese leadership look crafty).
EXPLAIN TO THE CHINESE ON NATIONAL TV that in America and the free world, we find all the causes to every accident and we DON’T ASSUME ANYTHING and it is a BAD SIGN or BAD FAITH to demand apologies, so we don’t give them freely or merely from some cultural expectation (quote your father if possible because they eat up that shit with a spoon).
According, IMMEDIATELY slap a maximum 15% “emergency tariff” on all imported goods from China pending the release of “prisoners” and explain that this is ONLY FAIR(this is within any US president’s right).
YES, CALL THEM PRISONERS OVER AND OVER AND OVER ON NATIONAL TV and don’t forget to clearly and distinctly REMIND THE WORLD THAT NO ONE WENT TO JAIL FOR THE TIENAMEN SQUARE MASSACRE OF A PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATION.
HINT that the CAUSE of the crash was due to their nation’s poor pilot training and NEPOTISTIC POLITICAL SELECTION of Chinese pilots. (This is where, as a pilot, you can save face completely if you dare, but please leave out the word “nepotism,” or they will expose you as a fraud).
DEMAND to know why the Chinese pilot HAD TO ASK PERMISSION TO BAIL OUT, according to his wingman’s statement, and explain that this is a dangerous idea, and remind the world that China does not even require fire escapes in factories, cite the enormous number of fire deaths in unsafe Chinese factories (this helps reminds them they are a cruel dictatorship).
Finally, TELL THE WORLD THAT CHINA IS A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS MILITARY REGIME EXPORTING DANGEROUS MATERIALS AND WE WEREN’T SPYING, BUT PROTECTING THE FREE WORLD’S INTEREST BASED ON HIGHLY CLASSIFIED INFORMATION!
Note: GW Bush was on TV today, he threw an opening baseball out onto a field for an opener, but he theatrically wound up like a real pitcher and threw it too hard for his ability, and it bounced off the dirt, out of control. This guy may have knee-jerk conservatives in America fooled, but not the Chinese.