OpinionAmerica’s China hawks, anti-mainland Hongkongers, and the Putin calendar: why 2019 would be a better year without them
- Tom Plate says for the sake of better China-US relations in 2019 (and his blood pressure), some of the irritants in the relationship, such as those who engage in warmongering and grandstanding, should be called out for their behaviour
Every year about this time, a late, great American columnist would knock out his “People I’m Not Talking to This Year”. It was a get-even roll call of big-time baddies and political popinjays – a crabby crusade whose charm pleased readers and deterred nervous, gimlet-eyed newspaper editors from spiking what eventually came to flourish as a tradition. In that spirit, here is my own hit list of “People I Wish Would Disappear This Year to Keep My Blood Pressure Down”, customised for my China-US-Asia remit.
That Chinese Navy rear admiral (name intentionally withheld) who recently urged an attack on a US aircraft carrier, openly drooling over the projected death toll of 10,000 US sailors: this morally misguided man is potentially more harmful to China’s peace and security than any Uygur terrorist or anti-China conspiracy. Might Beijing have available somewhere a “re-education” camp for military men out of their minds?
American military officers (no names here either) who drool like a crazed Chinese admiral, whether in reciprocal enmity or personal initiative. These Dr Strangeloves of the China-US relationship need to be watched. Warmongering can lead to war.
Any American academic or author who appears to sanction, welcome or flatly predict war with China. Anything to sell a book? Never underestimate your responsibility as an author when writing about a potential conflict that would endanger millions of lives on both sides of the Pacific.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio. This guy strikes me as cheaper than a Madras shirt in a Mumbai airport gift shop. It’s like he’s always “on sale”.