7.11.2005
Values Conundrum (WashingtonPost.com)
Will the U.S. and China Play by the Same Rules?
By David J. Rothkopf
Monday, July 11, 2005; Page A15
A debate over values is coloring the most important relationship on the planet. It is a debate that transcends in importance even the chasm between the U.S.-led West and radical Islam. This debate is the one that is at the fault line in the relationship between the United States and China.
In recent weeks we have seen new fissures emerge in the relationship. The two giants are eyeball to eyeball on the commercial playing field, and not only has neither blinked but both are seeing just how complex their problem really is.
On one front, U.S. tech companies are grappling with how much market share their souls are worth as they have been asked by the communist leadership to help censor the Internet in exchange for a better shot at tapping the Chinese market. Naturally, when this behavior draws criticism, both the Chinese government and the companies argue that it is a private-sector deal and an internal affair for the Chinese government to decide.
Meanwhile, American legislators are reacting in horror as a Chinese national oil company makes a bid to buy U.S.-owned Unocal. Consequently, even as we urge free-market reforms in China, we send the message that we're still undecided about how free is free at home.
In many respects the big question in this growing confrontation is not whether the values of one side will win out but whether we end up with an international system in which all are required to play by common rules.
(More ... Values Conundrum) ¶ 19:25
By David J. Rothkopf
Monday, July 11, 2005; Page A15
A debate over values is coloring the most important relationship on the planet. It is a debate that transcends in importance even the chasm between the U.S.-led West and radical Islam. This debate is the one that is at the fault line in the relationship between the United States and China.
In recent weeks we have seen new fissures emerge in the relationship. The two giants are eyeball to eyeball on the commercial playing field, and not only has neither blinked but both are seeing just how complex their problem really is.
On one front, U.S. tech companies are grappling with how much market share their souls are worth as they have been asked by the communist leadership to help censor the Internet in exchange for a better shot at tapping the Chinese market. Naturally, when this behavior draws criticism, both the Chinese government and the companies argue that it is a private-sector deal and an internal affair for the Chinese government to decide.
Meanwhile, American legislators are reacting in horror as a Chinese national oil company makes a bid to buy U.S.-owned Unocal. Consequently, even as we urge free-market reforms in China, we send the message that we're still undecided about how free is free at home.
In many respects the big question in this growing confrontation is not whether the values of one side will win out but whether we end up with an international system in which all are required to play by common rules.
(More ... Values Conundrum) ¶ 19:25
