"Why did Chen change his mind, duh? Blagh blagh blagh, etc...." Because he spoke to his wife, his "other half", and she said "I've been threatened, and we better get the heck out of here if we still can." That's why spouses should talk to each other before making big decisions, just like Ma and Pa American at the dinner table.
Funny how this event has surprised even the biggest Obamistas!!! Leaving a poor blind man out to dry when he has risked life and limb to get to our embassy???!!! Convincing him to leave the embassy to soothe the financiers of Obama's leftist economic agenda? Nobody expected what has just transpired! This is just not defensible, even for the most ardent supporters of the messiah of the American Left!
It doesn't have anything to do with leftist agendas but rather with that China is a threat to America militarily that we need to be careful with, they hold most of our debt and continue to prop us up economically, and our businesses love joining hands with them to rip off both American and Chinese workers together, which Obama has an interest in. By the way, that last bit is a RIGHT WING capitalist issue, not left wing.
Pretty big mess Chen has gotten himself into. Am sure that in the interest of his country he will change his mind again and stay in China. I think I can hear him screaming right now, "I'll stay." Wonder why he is screaming?
So this is how we find out that the Chinese actually do own us? All they had to tell Ms. Clinton is "Give me the dissident or we stop buying your bonds"!!! So let's give the Chinese more of a say-so, let's borrow more from them!! Austerity, He!!, we need to spend more on entitlement programs, electric car companies that make nothing that could remotely be considered roadworthy and fake solar energy companies!!! Who needs austerity when all we have to do is to agree to bend over for Hu Jintao now and then and pretend to enjoy it!!!
China is a really backward country. Kafka's "The Great Wall of China" gives a fairly accurate discription of that nation. If not for all the technology and secrets China has hacked from the USA, their country would be like a humongous N Korea.
If only China was a backward country. The people are the same as you or I - they're different from their past. Chairman Mao is now a figure of fun, it has extremely wealthy people who buy top range cars, clothing and other goods. Churchill once said the Soviet Union was an enigma amongst other things, but China is far more subtle. It embraces facets of capitalism, socialism/communism, yet adheres to none. It draws the benefits of each, learns quickly and evolves quickly. In rural areas you wouldn't notice that much change, but she's opening up her interior with infrastructure to hasten that change. In fact these days she's more of an enigma than the U.S.S.R. ever could be. Never consider them 'backward' however - it's easily done, but totally inaccurate. The projects planned, and the international influence she exerts can only signal the further ambitions China has. The idiot maverick bankers, their obsessive greed and crazed schemes which induced the international finance meltdown have only made things far more difficult, and unpatriotically played into the hands of unscrupulous 'not-as dim-as-us' China.
Go to WalMart (or any major retailer) and see what cheap crap you can buy that isn't Made in China. All this human rights shtick is just lip service. China is one giant labor camp for the US, with no EPA or unions to get in the way. US corporations love it. Can we send them back to a thousand years of the isolation they used to enjoy so much?
China, their policies and their status as the real power behind the facade of the American Democracy where "The People" are in charge are here to stay and guess what, our own greed handed them the world in a silver platter. We wanted, no, needed that new PS3, that latest 4D TV and the latest made-by-slave-labor iPad, right??? Time to pay the Chinese piper?
USSAmerikan, don't blame the American consumer. All they know or have known is that the product was made *somewhere* by some means, and now it sits at an *American* store ready to be sold. Blame the capitalists for their lack of American principles and the government for their lack of regulation. *Then* you can blame the American consumer/voter for not fixing the government a long time ago, whether by ballet or by gun.
In a nutshell, the Administration allowed threats by the Chinese government to force Chen to leave. Consider the irony of the Chinese government position: "If you don't leave the embassy, we will hurt your family. But if you agree to leave, we'll keep you and your family safe." Think about that for a minute. The USA sold Chen out. This makes the US look bad, and will make the Chinese government even bolder. This was a very bad day for the US as a supposed leader in human rights.
We really shouldn't have any ties to the dictatorship of China in the first place: not business-wise or otherwise. Shame on our current and former "leaders" for putting the U.S. into this position.
I was very surprised by how this incident was handled by very experienced State secretary. It makes US looks soft while winning no points in public eyes.
JY78, I beg to differ slightly - your country has handled this very well. China has a habit of regarding such issues as an 'internal, domestic affair' - yet is perfectly content to interfere and threaten when, and where, it suits them. I'm a British socialist, (though a supporter of the Monarchy - LOL, socialism and communism mean different things in Britain and America I suspect). Anyway, if you look at China what do you see? It occupied Tibet illegally, it threatens Taiwan, and has adopted a very subtle programme of providing what it terms as 'humanitarian and development assistance', especially on the African continent. This is all a disguise, for all the time she's obtaining rare metals and passive global influene with a view of gently establishing strategic bases both there and globally around the World. Your government's well aware of this, but has to play what amounts to a 'game of chess' with the Chinese. If your government may appear 'soft' with the Chinese, it's for a very good reason - but no, they certainly aren't soft - it's a case of them viewing the 'wider, long-term, picture' in response. In short, whether it's a Democrat or Republican administration, your government, via your military's intelligence reports, will effect very similar responses. Party politics won't make that much difference - but they need the united support of both - on this, and certain other international issues.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPEtKDBO0Lw