Only A Strategic Partnership With China Will Keep This New Dawn Bright
Timothy Garton Ash writes in the Guardian:
China is one of the few places on earth that may mourn the departure of President George W Bush. While Bush started out in 2001 on a tetchy and rivalrous note with China, since the 9/11 attacks revealed an immediate and vicious enemy the Chinese-US relationship has been put on a more solid footing than ever; far more solid than the still fragmentary Chinese-European one.
There may also be a more back-handed reason. Because Bush managed to damage America’s reputation and influence in most other parts of the world, an economically dynamic China has looked good by comparison; or at least, better than it used to. Now that Obama promises to restore the US’s moral authority and soft powers of attraction in the rest of the world, China will have to work harder to keep its post-Olympic shine.
