Week in Review: Rice in China

SecState Condi Rice's visit to Beijing carried a number of items on Washington's agenda. She and China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi came to the table on a number of current events.

ZIM. With the recent swearing-in of Mugabe for his sixth term as President of Zimbabwe, Bush has called the UN to action against “Zimbabwe's illegitimate government,” which has been globally criticized for using tactics of violence and intimidation. Bush plans to present an arms embargo and travel ban as response measures to recent events in Zim to the UN Security Council this week. To aid US efforts to put an end to political violence in Zim, it has been growing its outreach to other UN Security Council members for some teeth behind its words (Rice is documented telling reporters that the US is pushing for action and “not just another statement” from the United Nations).

As it is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, having China's vote (= veto-wielding abilities) is critical to securing and issuing UN-branded action against Mugabe and violence in Zim. Drawing-up the issue to partners and allies, the Washington is recruiting Beijing in particular to get Zim under its thumb. In a diplomatic and vague response to Washignton's proposal, Yang Jiechi told reporters at a news conference that “China, as a responsible country, will also play a constructive role in this process,” but that “the most pressing path is to stabilize the situation in Zimbabwe.” He went on to say say that he hoped that the Zimbabwe government and its political opposition will “engage in a serious dialogue to find a proper solution,” adding that China supports the engagement of “African countries in particular” on this issue.

China of course has a long-standing trade partnership with Zimbabwe, and has been reprimanded internationally for its alleged arms supply to African nations, getting tangled earlier this year in the web of tragedy and condemnation surrounding Darfur genocide activities. Yang clarified that a Chinese ship with a “very limited amount of conventional arms” did not deliver the cargo earlier this year after receiving a request from Zimbabwe. With China stepping back from trade that would be perceived as supplying arms to African countries – and Zimbabwe in particular – but not committing to the US’ proposed course of action, it seems that a stalemate has been reached on this particular issue.  Unless of course, another topic or incident comes into play, allowing Washington to leverage this one forward. From this point forward, the US will have to prioritize, choose carefully the topics necessitating Beijing's weight. In the meantime, both countries will continue to tally its haves and have-nots, dancing with a fluidity as dynamic and changing as its variable platforms and partnerships.

Coming to an informal quasi-agreement, Rice concluded her visit to Beijing on the issue of Zim saying “This is not an African issue alone … it is an issue for the Security Council. . . But I think we are all looking for something out of the African Union.”

NORTH KOREA. Status checks on the progress made on North Korea's nuclear program were a bright spot during the trip. Both countries took a moment to bask in the afterglow of recent successes in North Korea where it delivered a long-due list of its nuclear activities, as required by a disarmament-for-aid deal reached in talks hosted by China. In addition, North Korea made a symbolic move to show its commitment to the nuclear deal, toppling the cooling tower at its plutonium-producing reactor. 

While China maintains its hosting duties for six-party talks on this issue, it is expected to announce a new round of talks (which include North and South Korea, the United States, Japan and Russia). Rice reported that chief envoys would coordinate leading up to the talks, the objective of which would be to “. . .  get some steps forward on verification” of North Korean efforts to dismantle its nuclear progrm and activities, she said of the negotiations.

CHINA's QUAKE. Rice showed concern for affected Chinese people earlier Sunday when she visited the site of Sichuan's quake last month. Numbers now show total 88,000 dead or missing, and a staggering five million displaced.

“I’ve been tremendously impressed with the recovery, with the resilience of the people,” Rice told journalists after touring the wrecked city of Dujiangyan, near the epicentre.  “It is really a sign of how the human spirit can recover from great devastation.”

On the topics of recent natural disasters in greater Asia, Rice said she would investigate ways to persuade China's close neighbour and ally Myanmar to accept international aid to repair the nation, which suffered catastrophic damage from a cyclone in early May.

TIBET. Rice echoed the US’ concerns about China's hardline activities in Tibet. This was rebuked by Beijing's explanation that US views and media have created and exacerbated the problem. Moving forward on the Tibet piece, China announced Sunday that it would revisit fresh talks with the Dalai Lama's reps. The US’ initiative to bring attention to this issue in face-to-face format is the motivation that China needed to follow-up on an outstanding promise to maintain discussions with the exiled Tibetan leadership, which has long waited to sit down with China's political leadership.

“I hope there will be some positive developments and some momentum behind the [Tibet] talks,” Rice said, showing support for China's action. “This is the way to deal with the issue.”