Trusting the Chinese to be Chinese
As Barnett often says, we need to trust the Chinese to be Chinese and use that to our advantage. For example, Chinese support for territorial soverignty plays into current American efforts to isolate Russia after its invasion of Georgia. AP story, via Yahoo:
Remember this when the concerns about alternative alliance structures become breathless.Russia’s hopes of gathering support were dealt a huge blow when the five countries denounced the use of force and called for respect for every country’s territorial integrity. The joint declaration from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization deepens Russia’s international isolation.
Medvedev had appealed to the alliance — which consists of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan — for unanimous support of Russia’s response to Georgia’s “aggression.”
Medvedev’s appeal had raised fears in Western capitals of the emergence of a competing strategic alliance to NATO forming around Russia — but the other Asian nations may have been reluctant to strain their relations with Europe and the United States.
Medvedev also discussed the situation in Georgia’s breakaway regions with Chinese President Hu Jintao. China has traditionally been wary of supporting separatist movements, mindful of its own problems with Tibet and Muslims in the western territory of Xinjiang.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang was quoted by state news agency Xinhua as saying “the situation in the region … should be resolved in dialogue.”
