Why Did the US ‘Lower Its Standards’ in Congratulating China on the Year of the Horse?

In recent years, congratulating China on the Lunar New Year and wishing China a happy Lunar New Year has become fashionable in world political circles. The world media pays very close attention to the congratulatory messages of American political VIPs. The author noticed that this year, 2014, the Year of the Horse, he finally saw congratulatory messages from high-level U.S. officials. What was different than in the past was that this time, China’s congratulation on the New Year did not come from President Barack Obama, but his representative, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Kerry stated that he represented President Obama and the American people, and sent the best blessings to people in every part of the world joyously celebrating the Lunar New Year.

People know that over the past several years, whether in the Clinton era, George W. Bush period or Obama administration, each Chinese New Year, the American presidents would never forget to congratulate the people celebrating the Lunar Spring Festival. Just take the recent Obama years as an example. For example, in 2013, the time of the Year of the Snake, President Obama wished a “Happy New Year.” On Feb. 8, he issued a congratulatory message for the new Year of the Snake, and together with first lady Michelle, wished Asian-Pacific peoples in every part of the world peace and good health, good luck and prosperity. On the first day of the 2012 Lunar New Year, the Year of the Dragon, President Obama and his wife and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement on Feb. 19, congratulating the Asian-Pacific peoples on the New Year, representing the American people congratulating all of America’s Asian-Pacific peoples on the Lunar New Year and hoping that each person celebrating the Spring Festival would gain peace, prosperity and good health. During the time of the 2011 Spring Festival, Obama expressed New Year’s blessings to all of the people around the globe celebrating the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Rabbit. He also especially emphasized in a congratulatory message that in each large city and small town of America, there were many Americans celebrating the Lunar New Year.

The traditions of celebrating the Lunar New Year that many Asian-Americans inherited from the older generations remind Americans that this is a strength our cultural and ethnic diversity creates. During the Spring Festival of 2010, Obama especially issued a video recording from the White House, extending a New Year’s greeting to Asian peoples around the globe. Taiwan’s Lianhe Wanbao reported that this was the first time an American president wished people a happy New Year through a video on the White House website, and it felt extra warm: It was brilliant compared to the black-and-white, printed congratulatory New Year’s messages over the years, and it was also much more lively. Why then, in the 2014 Spring Festival, the Year of the Horse, did Obama change his usual practice of wishing the Asian peoples a happy New Year and switch to having the secretary of state represent him? Is this a change in the style of America wishing the Asian peoples a happy New Year, or does America have other intentions?

Of course, past Spring Festivals have been the ethnic holiday the Chinese people have most fallen in love with and have been the most popular throughout past dynasties and eras. In reality, it comes with China leaping into the position of the number two economic entity in the world and the world’s number one trade importer and exporter. In some countries in the Americas and Europe, we have already continuously seen time off for the Spring Festival. As far as the Spring Festival period is concerned, special characteristics, like hanging up red lanterns as is done in China, the street-dancing lion and hanging the New Year scrolls, have successively been seen in the five continents. Thus, wishing Chinese people a happy New Year is just not a trifling matter. Indeed, Chinese people celebrating the Spring Festival really do not need to wait for the American president’s congratulatory New Year’s speech. However, the change in a usual practice will, of course, cause people to take notice.

People know that on the eve of the Chinese celebration of the Spring Festival, the Year of the Horse, on Jan. 29, President Obama issued the sixth State of the Union address since he has been in office. Chinese people are used to paying close attention to what is declared regarding China-U.S. relations in the U.S. president’s State of the Union address. This time, during Obama’s State of the Union, which lasted about 65 minutes, he mentioned China twice; both times were in the context of developing competition with China. Even though he mentioned China one time more than last year, the world media acutely perceived that in Obama’s 2014 State of the Union address, as soon as it started, he was viewing China through an American lens and stated that China was already not the world’s number one investment target, but the U.S. was.

According to the explanation of China experts, it was the U.S. president’s “American-style approval” of China’s development and economic achievements. In the past, some people in the U.S. were never very agreeable to China’s development and economic achievements and would often be coldly ironic or hotly satirical about it. As soon as Obama’s 2014 State of the Union address started, he mentioned China; he did not mention Japan and Europe. This actually lets people know that currently, in development and economy, China is the United States’ only competitive partner.

Remember, in Obama’s 2013 State of the Union address, he also mentioned China twice; between these two times, discussing China’s clean energy development was a main point. All this indicates that America’s attitude toward China has changed. At the same time, it also indicates that China is no longer a weak country. Regarding this topic, on Jan. 30, China’s Global Times published the editorial, “Obama, When Praising Yourself, Need You Also Disparage China?”, a penetrating analysis of the mentalities of America’s upper classes and American culture. It also became the cultural lens through which people viewed the U.S. president’s “lowering of standards” on wishing the Asian people a happy Spring Festival.

What people recall is that British Prime Minister David Cameron, on Jan. 29 — actually, on the 29th of the 12th lunar month — had already issued a congratulatory speech, sending blessings to China for the New Year (see Global Times online, Jan. 30, 2014). This was the first government VIP out of the main countries in the west to wish China a happy New Year.

Wishing China a happy New Year bears witness to China’s power and the actual strength of Chinese culture. President Obama’s “lowering of standards” in wishing the Asian people a happy New Year and the British prime minister’s “raising of standards” in wishing China a happy New Year give the world some more things to talk about.