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Journalism of Courage
Sending the wrong signal on nuclear weapons is not the only potential pitfall in America8217;s romance with India. Mr Bush should also be wary of sending the wrong signal about America8217;s intentions towards China. Too often when Indian-American relations are discussed in Washington, the notion is invoked that India might somehow turn out to be a 8220;counterweight8221; to China. Yet it is hard to see, in practical terms, what sort of counterweight India could actually be. On the contrary, that sort of talk is liable only to reinforce China8217;s fear that America8217;s grand strategic design is to encircle it and block its rise as a great power. That fear has already been strengthened by America8217;s recent transfer of some of its military might from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
The United States should not base its Asian strategy on that sort of balance-of-power diplomacy. Apart from anything else, India is far too canny, and cares too much about its own China relationship, to be drawn into such a game. Instead of encircling China, Mr Bush should concentrate on putting the American relationship with it on the right footing: deeper engagement, coupled with a determination to make China play by the rules. Yet Mr Bush8217;s approach to this rising superpower has sometimes seemed almost casual: Hu Jintao, China8217;s president, had been made to wait far too long for his state visit to Washington even before Hurricane Katrina forced him to cancel a visit last August. And Mr Bush has not worked hard enough at home to make the free-trade case against the protectionist hawks gunning for China though, to be fair to him, he has not given them much comfort either.
Excerpted from an editorial comment in 8216;The Economist8217;, February 23
