Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Doe v. United States

I don't have any IR theory background. None. However, this statement by Hu Jintau at the 17th National Congress of the governing Communist Party leads me to question ensuing global politics:
He [Hu Jintao] called the international situation favorable to China, saying a “trend toward a multipolar world is irreversible.” -NYT
This seems to be the language of Russia more than the US or EU (citation needed). I don't actually believe that China wants to be one of those polls; it does not seem to be in their business plan. But why phrase it in competitive language?

It is possible, distinctly possible, that as Communists they feel the need to fire some "empty shots." Apparently Mao told Nixon after the Shanghai Communiqué that China will still have to write bad things about the America in the newspapers so the people will not get confused, and likewise America is free to write bad things about China. "Empty shots" in the words of Mao.

1 comment:

Josh M. said...

I don't understand what your claim is. I understand Hu's statement as a declaration of purpose that China is attempting to become a world power on the order of the United States in the sense of developing a sphere of influence, even for economic reasons as opposed to ideological; the fact that China is a communist country is mostly irrelevant. Is not China actively pursuing this goal, especially in Southeast Asia and Africa?