Haiyan: The unbelievably small amount of aid Beijing is offering Manila marks a new era of sneer diplomacy

[mota bhai 2,675]

China never ceases to amaze.

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The latest trouble sign came after Typhoon Haiyan slammed into the Philippine Islands over the weekend ... Professor Mead posted an item marveling at the paltry sum Beijing committed to Philippine disaster relief ... US$100,000 in direct aid, and another US$100,000 through the Red Cross. Such token amounts give tokenism a bad name.

Forget smile diplomacy. This is sneer diplomacy. Many observers, myself included, ascribed Chinese inaction following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami to immature capability. The PLA hadn’t yet fielded the expeditionary capabilities necessary to render assistance far from Chinese shores. Beijing did little because it could do little. Chinese forces, however, now own disaster-relief assets such as the hospital ship Peace Ark. Yet they remain idle. It’s hard to escape the conclusion that Beijing is withholding help out of pique. Manila, after all, has the temerity to insist that its exclusive economic zone is, well, its exclusive economic zone. Seems political #######-for-tat trumps alleviating human suffering.

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There’s an upside to this from an American standpoint: China has made itself look small and petty, like a skinflint rather than a magnanimous power worthy of regional leadership. This is self-defeating conduct of a high order. Far be it from me to interfere with a strategic competitor intent on shooting himself in the foot. Fire!

http://thediplomat.com/2013/11/chinese-soft-power-another-typhoon-haiyan-victim/

Edited November 19, 2013 by amriki bhai