China: The View of Bush Legacy
During President Bush’s final press conference last week, he was asked indirectly about his views of America’s damaged “moral standing.” Bush defended himself spiritedly saying, “I strongly disagree with the assessment that our moral standing has been damaged. It may be damaged amongst some of the elite, but people still understand America stands for freedom, that America is a country that provides such great hope.” He went on to name some parts of the world where the U.S. was still held in high regard, and China was one of those countries.
So how does China, or, more specifically, members of the Chinese media feel about Bush’s legacy? A commentary in the Southern Metropolis Daily, one of China’s leading commercial newspapers, mentions how Truman left office with very low approval ratings, but his legacy was later on vindicated. The writer pins Bush’s place in history squarely upon the Iraq war and comes up with a measured assessment: “People say that history often repeats itself, and it’s hard to say that it will not do the same for Bush in how his stature may be revised the same way that Truman’s was. However, the difference is that the emergence of Europe and Japan along with the end of the Cold War serve as the basis for Truman’s place in history. The basis for Bush’s legacy has yet to be determined.
"Moreover, what makes it even more uncertain is the promotion of his Middle East democracy strategy in Muslim countries where there lies a wide gap between them and Western ideals. If Iraq is able to continue moving forward in the development of its democracy and rule of law and go on to influence other Middle Eastern countries, there will be greater hope of a comprehensive realization of Bush’s Middle East democracy project. However, if Iraq goes backwards in democracy and its sects are unable to cooperate, leading to widespread chaos with global effects, than history will render a judgment that Bush will not like. But that is the impartial judgment that he has no choice but to accept.”
The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese government, casts U.S.-China relations in a guardedly optimistic light in an editorial titled, “Sino-U.S. Cooperation Leads to World Peace.” Although Bush is not mentioned directly, his administration’s policy of encouraging China to become a “responsible stakeholder” is discussed. The timing and nature of the article also indicates that it was written in response to Bush’s oncoming departure.
“In recent years, amidst the efforts of the international community to resolve problems of a global nature, the fruits of the Sino-U.S. ‘global relationship’ are gradually being seen. Room for cooperation and opportunity has continuously growing larger, and mutual trust has also been increasingly strengthened. It can be said that the harder the global problem, the more it shows the necessity and importance of Sino-U.S. cooperation. … The Sino-U.S. relationship is made up of the world’s largest developing country and the largest developed country. They have the common responsibility for the peace and development of mankind.”
The absence of criticism and forward-looking nature of this editorial seems to indicate that the Chinese government has been pleased with how the Bush administration has conducted its dealings with them and hopes that they will see the same from the Obama administration.
