So let the Pacific Century begin with a big dose of nuanced alienation, as we insist we are making China are friend but just serve notice to friends that we can't be counted on:
As a result of misunderstanding the Chinese, America is losing friends in Asia fast. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who ended the decades-long reign of the Liberal Democratic party in September, has signaled he wants to reorient Japan's foreign policy toward China. And some policy-makers in New Delhi, noticing Obama's unusually soft approach, are pushing their country away from America as they feel India too now needs to placate the Chinese. Washington, in a real sense, is undermining its own role in Asia.
Why shouldn't President Obama's China trip be a success with this outlook? The Chinese will be happy with a foreign policy of American retreat in perfect harmony with their own ambitions.
Our foreign policy people really just act as if diplomacy is all a giant Coke commercial.
