Hillary’s Words Lack Grace

Published in People's Network
(China) on 2 December 2011
by Editorial (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Yipeng Xie. Edited by Katya Abazajian .
Hillary Clinton, when heading to Myanmar, stated that developing nations should be smart shoppers and said, “Be wary of donors who are more interested in extracting your resources than in building your capacity. Some funding might help fill short-term budget gaps, but we’ve seen time and again that these quick fixes won’t produce self-sustaining results.”

Without doubt, the media around the world believes that Hillary’s statements regarding China. As the U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary has made these statements without wariness. The United States has lost its dominance and confidence, the Secretary of State has started to slander China. Hillary’s statements have given us a completely different impression about America. She is ruining the great figure of the U.S. and leads the U.S. to show the real face of meanness.

We cannot say that China’s foreign aid does not have deficiencies, but at least China’s foreign aid is more unadulterated than U.S. aid. The U.S.’s foreign aid usually involves military aid and adds straining political conditions that seldom care about the civil society of the recipient nations. In other words, the U.S.’s foreign aid is its political weapon. The U.S. doesn’t have the qualification to utter such words as “improve the ability of recipient countries.”

Also, the U.S.’s aid always changes. If the U.S. is not satisfied with the behavior of the recipient countries, the aid will be terminated. Hillary’s words, “won’t produce self-sustaining results,” probably describe the U.S. itself.

On the contrary, most of China’s foreign aid is invested in infrastructure and the infrastructure industry and is developed based on the needs of the civil society. China’s aid dabbles in industry, transportation, agriculture development, medicine, education, etc. This aid not only transmits “blood,” but also improves the function of “producing blood.” The fundamental reason is that China’s foreign aid respects recipient countries, but the U.S.’s aid is the “carrots” of “carrots and big sticks”.

Hillary’s fomentation seems to treat recipient countries as fools, not as smart. Maybe she believes that “smart power diplomacy” has unlimited power. She only needs to move her mouth to enhance the U.S.’s global influence without paying the price.

The lack of grace in Hillary’s words and the uproar of “jealous hatred,” in diplomacy, is almost equal to uttering bad words. Since her becoming the Secretary of State, she has been offensive to China more than once.

Maybe Hillary is trying to compensate for the deficiencies in the U.S.’s practical methods. The financial deficit has become astronomical, while trade competition is at a low point, and the nation has to borrow money from everywhere else. Now, one more dollar to aid means one more dollar added to the deficit. From the budgetary perspective, the U.S. has lost some of its privileges as a superpower country.

In this situation, Hillary is fully using “smart power diplomacy,” but this also means that the U.S. needs to tiptoe to fool Asia, because the U.S. has lost its tremendous power in Asian diplomacy. Now, the U.S. can only do the long-sleeved dance to stabilize the minds of Asian countries.

No other developing countries think that U.S. aid is more sincere than China’s aid. Many nations hope that the U.S. increases aid to Asia and Africa. However, it is still impossible for the U.S. to exclude China by increasing aid. If the U.S. only orally promises aid to Asia and Africa and never takes action to realize it, the bad reputation with which it describes China will finally reflect back onto itself.

Hillary should be clear that what China does nowadays seldom points to the U.S., but the U.S.’s return to Asia directly points to China. China keeps going naturally, while the U.S. keeps going on purpose. Therefore, it is predictable who will be more tired and who will last longer.
 


希拉里·克林顿在前往缅甸的路上说了一席话:“发展中国家要做一个聪明的受援国”,“警惕那些只对挖掘你们的资源更感兴趣的援助国,它们不会想着去构建你们的能力”,“它们提供的某些资金也许有助于填补短期预算缺口,但我们已经一而再,再而三地看到,这些权宜之计不会产生可持续的结果。”

  世界媒体无一例外地认为,希拉里这番话是冲中国来的。作为美国的国务卿,她有点口不择言了。美国以往的霸气和自信没有了踪影,国务卿开始靠说“坏话”诋毁中国。这和我们印象中的那个美国落差很大。希拉里在破掉美国的神话,现出它小肚鸡肠的真身。

  中国的对外援助不能说没有缺点,但至少比美国的外援纯粹,援助就是援助。美国外援通常以军事援助为主,附加严苛的政治条件,很少触及受援国的民生。换句话说,美国的外援通常就是它的政治武器。“构建受援国的能力”,这种话恰恰美国没资格说。

  美国的援助还经常变卦,受援国的行为稍让美国不满,援助就可能中断。希拉里所说的“不可持续”也很像在说美国自己。

  相比之下,中国的外援大多投向受援国的基础设施和基础产业,并且围绕民生展开,广泛涉及工业、交通、农业开发、医疗、教育等。它们既是输血,也是对造血功能的培育。根本原因是,中国对外援助以尊重受援国的意愿为前提,美国援助则是“胡萝卜加大棒”里面的“胡萝卜”。

  希拉里的这种挑拨恰恰像是在把受援国都当成傻子,而非把它们都当成“聪明的”。她或许以为“巧实力外交”威力无边,她只要动动嘴,就可以代替美国为巩固影响力必须付出的真金白银。

  希拉里这番话在大国外交中,缺风度的程度几乎相当于 “爆粗口”,以及“羡慕嫉妒恨”的大吵大叫。自她担任国务卿以来,她已经不止一次这样针对中国失态。

  希拉里或许是在努力填补美国现实手段之不足。美国的财政赤字已是天文数字,贸易竞争也很乏力,被迫到处借钱。它现在增加一美元的外援,就意味着多一块钱赤字的压力。仅从预算能力来看,它作为超级大国的一些特权肯定要打折扣。

  在这种情况下,希拉里正把她的“巧实力外交”做到极致。但这意味着美国要越来越踮起脚来,像耍杂技一样忽悠亚洲。美国的亚洲外交在失去由内向外的厚重和一言九鼎,它现在靠长袖善舞试图稳住亚洲各国的心。

  不会有哪个发展中国家会认为美国的援助比中国的援助“更诚心”,美国如果增加对亚洲、非洲的援助,各国会巴不得。但美国想因此把中国“排挤走”,这完全不可能。如果美国对亚非的援助光说不练,口惠而实不至,那么它今天对中国的声誉抹了多少黑,用不了多久这些脏东西都会一点不少地转贴到它自己的脸上。

  希拉里应当清楚,中国今天所做的一切很少有什么是专门针对美国设计的,而美国重回亚洲尽是些专门针对中国的动作。中国在自然行事,美国在刻意求之,谁更累,谁能坚持得长久一些,是不难预见的。▲
This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

Hot this week

Austria: The US Courts Are the Last Bastion of Resistance

       

Austria: If This Is Madness, There is a Method to It

Germany: It’s Not Europe’s Fault

Germany: We Should Take Advantage of Trump’s Vacuum*

Germany: Donald Trump’s Failure

Topics

Germany: When Push Comes to Shove, Europe Stands Alone*

Guatemala: Fanaticism and Intolerance

Venezuela: China: Authoritarianism Unites, Democracy Divides

Israel: Antisemitism and Anti-Israel Bias: Congress Opens Investigation into Wikipedia

Spain: Trump, Xi and the Art of Immortality

Germany: We Should Take Advantage of Trump’s Vacuum*

Sri Lanka: Qatar under Attack: Is US Still a Reliable Ally?

Taiwan: Trump’s Talk of Legality Is a Joke

Related Articles

Germany: It’s Not Europe’s Fault

Spain: State Capitalism in the US

Thailand: Appeasing China Won’t Help Counter Trump

India: Will New US Envoy Help to Repair Ties under Threat?

France: Global South: Trump Is Playing into China’s Hands