The Foreign Guest

China’s growing power attracts growing distrust. The communist authorities have only themselves to blame. In Washington, Hu Jintao is received as the ambassador of a forthcoming world power that is expected to act responsibly.

Jan. 20, 2011. It was well played tactically: Before his meeting with Congressional leadership, who view the internal doings and external behavior of China with great skepticism, President Hu Jintao openly conceded the need to catch up on human rights issues. Beijing’s American critics were surprised, to say the least. If he should be honest in promising a better observance of human rights in the future, then that would have enormous consequences on domestic conditions politically — moreover, a topic of ongoing dispute with the United States would be relieved. In addition, they could follow China’s rise with more equanimity and confidence.

That this growth of power is not celebrated across the board, but instead attracts growing mistrust, is something that China’s communist authorities must blame themselves for. 2010 was no gleaming year for Chinese diplomacy, and that’s without even taking into account their ridiculous reaction to the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.

America has driven aggressive special interest policies in the region into the arms of Asian countries in particular, and the idea of a Chinese hegemony just doesn’t sit well with them. These countries don’t want for America to clear the field militarily and with their security policies. They see an assertion in the presence of the United States, which will hopefully never mature, but view it as necessary for the rise of China to take place peacefully and preferably conflict-free.

President Obama has backed the worldwide political importance of the American-Chinese relationship more than once. In Washington, Hu Jintao is received as the ambassador of a forthcoming world power, a power whose success will not be begrudged, but one that will be expected to behave responsibly and not press onward at the expense of other countries economically.

These expectations have been disappointing in the past, as is the case with North Korea; Obama has also had to experience such cold, smiling repudiations [typical of North Korean politics]. How forthcoming China will become to the world depends not only on growth rates and industry-spanning contracts, but it also on how they will go about presenting their policies as non-threatening to others — without wearing down into a power-hungry demeanor.