"China seeks advantage at Asian summit" by Anne Gearan | Washington Post, October 08, 2013
BALI, Indonesia — President Xi Jinping of China took advantage Monday of President Obama’s absence from the premier Asian trade and economic summit to push its own offers to neighboring nations.
China seeks economic ties that benefit and unite all states in the region of expanding economies, Xi said as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum got underway without full participation from the United States, the world’s largest economy.
Skirting security confrontations with Japan and several Southeast Asian nations, Xi underscored Chinese commitment to a peaceful region that is good for business.
“The Asia-Pacific is a big family,’’ he told a group of business executives. ‘‘A family of harmony prospers. China is ready to live in amity with others.’’
Well, the U.S. just can't allow that.
Secretary of State John Kerry, acting as Obama’s stand-in, countered that the United States sets a model for business fair play. The world’s next star entrepreneurs will not be born out of economies that repress innovation and steal good ideas, Kerry said.
‘‘Every entrepreneur and business in the Asia Pacific needs to know that they can reap the benefits when they develop the next big thing,’’ Kerry said, in an implicit challenge to the alleged Chinese practice of taking intellectual property. ‘‘If your ideas are at risk of being stolen, and your innovations can be ripped off, you will never reach the full potential of that country or economy.’’
He didn't really say that, did he?
Related: Obama Secretly Spying on US Businesses
THE BUGGING OF THE APEC IN SEATTLE
Does Kohn Kerry know who is his audience?
Xi and Kerry were selling their nations as the best business partners for emerging economies in Asia, but the contest highlighted the larger confrontation between the United States and China for economic and military influence across Asia.
Obama’s absence from APEC left a clearer field for Xi, who is bracketing his visit to Bali with trade-flavored stops elsewhere in Indonesia and in Malaysia. Obama had been due to visit both nations, but he cancelled the trip because of the federal government shutdown....
Because it wouldn't look good.
In an address colored by references to poetry and nature, Xi said China seeks peace and harmony. He made no direct reference to bitter territorial disputes with several nations whose delegates populated the hall, including Japan and the Philippines.
Earlier Monday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the United States, Australia, and Japan should not use their alliance as an excuse to intervene in territorial disputes in the East China and South China seas.
What is the dispute? They are called the CHINA SEAS, right?
China and Japan both claim tiny, uninhabited islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.
The islands are not worth war, but the resources under them are.
‘‘The United States, Japan, and Australia are allies, but this should not become an excuse to interfere in territorial disputes,’’ Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said. ‘‘It will only make the problems more complicated and harm the interests of all parties.’’
Kerry and his Japanese and Australian counterparts had issued a statement opposing ‘‘coercive or unilateral actions’’ to change the status quo.
Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei are also involved in sovereignty disputes with China.
The United States has tried to unite Southeast Asian nations under the US banner, promising rhetorical and some military help.
Malaysia, the nation that may be most on the fence, will host Xi in a few days. Kerry will stand in for Obama there too.
Related: MSM Monitor Banned In Malaysia
Maybe Kerry will criticize them for me.
Shen Dingli, vice dean of the Institute of International Affairs at Fudan University in Shanghai, said the United States no longer had the clout ‘‘to make the rules and lead the world’’ but was still sticking to its old strategy without the resources to back it up.
China, by contrast, does not seek hegemony and has an opportunity to win friends in the region as a result, Shen said.
I'm always amazed at how people prefer the carrot over the stick.
Xi’s friendly, relatively low-key address drew applause and appreciative comments in the hall of executives and government officials.
He never mentioned Obama or the president’s decision to stay home to tend to the domestic political crisis caused by the government shutdown.
‘‘I think it’s very damaging,’’ said Kenneth Lieberthal, Brookings Institution Asia scholar, of Obama’s absence. The most acute damage may be to Obama’s chances to line up a trans-Pacific free-trade deal in the next several months, Lieberthal said.
Oh, so that is his first name.
‘‘There’s a big difference between having the president go out for a major meeting like this and having the secretary of state substitute for him,’’ he said.
Yeah, John Kerry is no president. W saw to that.
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