Asian Ascendency?



Chinese Naval Vessels in South China Sea

 As all RTP&GGrs know, one of the US's biggest foreign policy worries is the potential for China to become the dominant player in East Asia and the Pacific.
Now, it appears that the Obama administration is responding to that threat.  I'm not sure what 2500 troops are supposed to do in Australia practically, but I'm sure this is a good symbolic statement that we don't intend to vacate the Western Pacific.

Investor's Business Daily may be overstating how positive this move is taken in by other East Asian countries, but I bet not: just as the famous observation went during the Cold War: "the Soviet Union is the only country in the world surrounded by hostile communist states", so China is the only nation in the world surrounded by hostile Asian states (OK, they're not the only one).  And most of the Asian nations surrounding China are pretty powerful in their own right too.  The important point is not the number of troops being forward-positioned, it is the fact that the East Asian countries are eager for our support, both in the trade agreements and in the military posturing.  They look to us, not China to secure their economic and military safety.

The fact that we did this in spite of the heavy reliance we have on China to finance our debt shows that the Obama administration is a little more bold than I expected, or that our debt financing by China is not considered too significant a leverage over us by our government.  An interesting move.  Lots to quote from here, all good:

On his visit to Hawaii, Bali and Australia, Obama announced that 2,500 U.S. troops would be stationed in northern Australia, a move welcomed with open arms not just by Australia but across the Pacific.

Obama also announced that the "broad outlines" of the Trans-Pacific Partnership eight-nation free trade zone were advancing, with major new nations — Japan, Canada and Mexico seeking entry — a big vote of confidence in America from a region that accounts for 60% of world trade. The State Department, meanwhile, announced a big, generous aid package for flood-ravaged Thailand.

Coming on the heels of Obama's signature on the U.S.-South Korea free trade treaty, the signal is unmistakable: America's back after a long period of neglect, and "We're here to stay," as Obama said.

No wonder Australia's prime minister, Julia Gillard, couldn't conceal her delight.

This article shows that there is much more than this forward-basing of troops going on that could be perceived as aggressive from China's point of view.  Read the whole thing, and it's good to see we still have a bit of a spine.

Major Success for Obama - Wall Street Journal

via Hot Air: The Wall Street Journal reports

Has there ever been a major economic summit where a U.S. President and his Treasury Secretary were as thoroughly rebuffed as they were at this week's G-20 meeting in Seoul? We can't think of one. President Obama failed to achieve any of his main goals while getting pounded by other world leaders for failing U.S. policies and lagging growth.

That's how the article starts. They don't back off in the rest of the article as they dish out a savage pounding to Obama.  I won't link the myriad articles that say how smart Obama is (without offering any concrete evidence), but if he really is as smart as they say he is, then he must be humiliating himself (as the President of the United States) and his country on purpose.  If that is his purpose: to massively redistribute wealth from wealth producers to wealth consumers in America, and from America to the rest of the world, and destroy America's standing in the world, he's doing a marvelous job. 

More:

The world also rejected Mr. Geithner's high-profile call for a 4% limit on a nation's trade surplus or deficit, which would amount to new political controls on trade and capital flows. This contradicts at least three decades of U.S. policy advice against national barriers to the flow of money and goods. We don't like to see U.S. Treasury Secretaries so completely shot down by the rest of the world, except when they are so clearly misguided.

A major 'Read the whole thing' article.  I don't feel like doing in-depth writing right now.  But, also check out the Hot Air link.  They juxtapose the WSJ article (of course the capitalist pigs hate him) with a similar article criticizing him almost as harshly in the San Franscisco Chronicle.  Good times.  Though not for our country.

Great Way to Run a Government, Mr President

Happy Thanksgiving RTPers!  I just had to make this and the other quick posts before I begin to enjoy Thanksgiving.  Oh, and I'm thankful for this wonderful blog where we can share our opinions and information. 

Anyway, just a quick link to an interesting chart showing the percentage of Cabinet positions from the Private Sector vs the Academic/Government sector in all administrations since Teddy Roosevelt.  A glance will quickly tell you why this adminstration is so riddled with Marxists and incompetents.