China Presents Challenge to Liberal Ideologues

In the Barack Obama-John McCain race, human rights figured early when Tibetan unrest flared and Obama called on Bush to boycott the Beijing Olympics. But the issue soon faded from his talking points, and when relations with China briefly resurfaced, the context was purely economic.

During the campaign, Obama described China as "neither our enemy nor our friend; they're competitors." He called for broad cooperation with Beijing while repeating the accusation that the trade surplus was stoked by a Chinese currency kept artificially cheap.

{ snip }

In an interview with The Associated Press, Wei rejected the idea of China as the West's economic lifeline, saying China would have a hard time saving its own economy and anyway wouldn't mind seeing the West failing.

"This expectation of China to save the West is only a dream," he said. "But why is this dream fanned up so much? Because the big businesses in the West are pumping up this idea; they do not want to see Western governments take severe measures against the Chinese government."

AP

Let the waffling begin!