China's feelings about the Bush victory
Peter Zhang
That Kerry's defeat is a disappointment to the regime is no surprise to China watchers. The regime regarded Kerry as a self-absorbed, vacillating, weak and an unpatriotic man with little or no character. Just the kind of man they would like to see as president of the United States.
Unlike the majority of Kerry's domestic critics he was not seen as a "flip-flopper," far from it. To those schooled in Marxist-Leninist principles anything that serves socialism is justified.
Therefore Kerry's continual reversals, rationalisations, lies and denials were viewed as merely a means to conceal and advance his own view of America. A view that he knew the mass of Americans would find unacceptable. This is why he was forced to sail under false colours.
One effect of Kerry's defeat is to set some wondering about the alleged decline of American power and resolve. There are those who think that America is in a terminal state of decline, despite its recent military victories. A Kerry victory would have lent some force to this view. (In their minds only an ignoramus or someone who detested his country would vote for a man like Kerry).
This is an important point. The more the regime thinks that American resolve is real and strengthening the less inclined it will be to listen to reckless military advice, particularly with respect to Taiwan.
China's America watchers have been delving into the innards of the election result. What they found does not bode well for Chinese militarists or Democrats. The regime, as I have mentioned before, is acutely aware of the powerful influence that America's mainstream media wields in its political affairs.
From their point of view they have for many years considered this influence benign in that it indirectly served the interests of the regime. Kerry's defeat now suggests that this influence is on the wane.
Beijing firmly believes that were it not for the rise of what has become the new or alternative media Kerry would now be president. Moreover they also believe that the results conceal the true magnitude of the Bush victory.
Roughly speaking, if one makes adjustments for the "blame America crowd" and those who were influenced by the media and the mass of anti-Bush propaganda the anti-Kerry vote was massive.
As they see it, the more informed the American public becomes the more it will shift toward the Republicans. This assumes that Democrats will not learn from their mistakes. A reasonable assumption, at least in the short term, considering that the left apparently controls the party.
That the alternative media played a significant role in re-electing Bush troubles the regime. What if the net provides the Chinese people with alternative views and a source of news and facts that could undermine the regime's legitimacy? Expect intensified attempts to control the net.
I think it is safe to conclude that the regime will largely accommodate itself to the Bush administration. Although there still might be some sabre-rattling over Taiwan's independence it will go no further than that.
BrookesNews.Com
Monday 8 November 2004