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Opinion | Is the euphoria over China’s new US ambassador justified amid the dreary diplomatic realities?
- There are no poetics in our politics these days as the tenor of US-China diplomacy is prosaic at best and we look for role models of peace in the wrong places
- Classical music can offer a welcome alternative to the secular sirens of contemporary politics, even if it is not always appreciated for being above politics
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According to reports, Qin Gang’s public tone seemed fairly chipper on his arrival in Washington. Further, in the wake of his initial meet-and-greet with US officials, there surfaced new communications between the United States and China.
Given the alarm with which many Westerners have reacted to Beijing’s “Wolf Warrior” diplomacy, Qin was presented as if he had come from some Chinese peace and reconciliation commission. This is China’s new ambassador to Washington.
The backdrop is that any sort of apparent uptick in the US-China bilateral relationship is rare enough that some, understandably, try to make a positive out of whatever they reasonably can. It hit a lot of people that the initial utterances out of the official mouth of China’s newly arrived ambassador were not dreadful or ominous.
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That is fine, but the hitch is that his predecessor, Cui Tiankai – China’s man in Washington since 2013 – had made many friends for China over the years with his warm style and considerable knowledge of America. Qin, formerly a blunt-speaking foreign ministry official in Beijing, was if anything more wolf warrior than cuddly panda.
Euphoria, in global as well as local politics, is more often than not unwarranted or at best premature. Consider the current dreary reality: the Chinese economy is starting to drag, and the American economy is looking decreasingly exceptional with almost every new statistical report.
02:20
China’s US envoy Qin Gang strikes conciliatory note on arrival in Washington
China’s US envoy Qin Gang strikes conciliatory note on arrival in Washington
Malaise, the immensely depressing word once employed by US president Jimmy Carter, looks to be making a revival in America. Also in revival is superpower ineptitude. Washington leaves Afghanistan with all the dignity of a felon on the run, while Beijing is not exactly filling the skies around Taiwan with angelic avatars of peace.
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