Although relieved with bin Laden's death, many Chinese are scared where Washington will focus its attention next.
The Chinese reaction to the circumstances surrounding Osama bin Laden's death were mixed with admiration for a successful covert operation, and fear for where Washington would start focusing its attention next [EPA]
The United States' most vilified terrorist foe has been dead only a week but China is already haunted by the phantom of the next big US enemy. Almost simultaneously with the spread of the news of Osama bin Laden's death in a covert US operation in Pakistan, Chinese analysts had begun the guessing game of where Washington will focus its attention next.
"Why didn't they catch him alive?" speculated military affairs analyst Guo Xuan. "Because he was no longer needed as an excuse for Washington to take the anti-terror war outside of the US borders. It is because of bin Laden that the US were allowed to increase their strategic presence in many places around the world as never before. But Libya and NATO's attack there have changed the game. They (the US) no longer need bin Laden to assert their authority."
Even before bin Laden's death, Beijing had expressed concern that the US strategists are diverting their attention from the war on terror to containing the rise of China and other emerging economies.
A long article on Libya stalemate published by the editor of Contemporary International Relations magazine, Lin Limin, argued that the US has been unwilling to take the lead role in the Libya conflict because it has "finally woken up to the fact that its main reason to worry are the emerging countries.
"If the US position on Libya is not only a tactical stance but a strategic one and they have really come to understand that they should not waste military power and energy in numerous directions 'spreading democracy' all over the world but should begin focusing their attention on the rise of emerging countries, then we do have a reason to worry," Lin argued.
The US presence in Afghanistan has always been a controversial one for Chinese politicians. China joined the global war on terror because bin Laden's political agenda of setting up an Arab caliphate and sponsoring terrorism presented a direct threat to its restive Muslim north-western region of Xinjiang. But Beijing has been suspicious of the US intentions, worrying that Washington is pursuing a broader agenda for long-term presence in the region, which China regards as its backyard.
Beijing officially hailed the killing of the terrorist leader by the US as "a milestone and a positive development for the international anti-terrorism efforts".
"Terrorism is the common enemy of the international community. China has also been a victim of terrorism," foreign ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu was quoted by the official Xinhua news agency as saying after bin Laden's death.
She was referring to Xinjiang, where Muslim separatists have been waging a bloody insurgency against Chinese rule. Beijing had linked the global war against terror with its struggle to quell separatist sentiments in the Muslim region, insisting insurgents are aided from outside.
Chinese public reaction to the news of bin Laden's death has mixed reluctant admiration at the success of the secret mission played out reportedly on screens in front of US president Barack Obama with outright fear over what comes next.
"The whole thing seemed like an intelligence operation lifted straight out of '24' (a TV series about US counter-terrorism agents)," said Huang Mei, a TV producer with barely concealed awe. "How advanced and confident they must be to ask their president to watch the killing mission on screens live!"
But some see bin Laden's demise as a blow to efforts to promote a school of Anti-American thought.
"The great anti-America fighter bin Laden was murdered by the US! How sad!" wrote one commenter on Sina's popular Weibo micro-blogging site.
"Is this real? Excellent!" wrote another of the news. "Now the only terrorist left is the United States!"
Commentators have begun analysing the political capital reaped by Obama and preparing for the possibility that he may win a second term in office. Writing in Beijing's Xinjing Bao, commentator Chen Bing predicted the US will exploit the death of bin Laden to expand its influence in the Middle East and bring the Arab spring to an end.
"What a great way to issue a warning to all anti-American politicians in the region," Chen said. "And a declaration that it (the US) intends to mould the Middle East according to its own design."
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ReplyDeleteThis is not about freeing the oppressed Afghanis. I'm sure the majority of the American people genuinely believe so, why else would they tolerate their own loved ones going off to fight- But the harsh rule of the Taliban had been on going long before the so called War on Terror, it was going on when the Taliban were the US Government's buddies, who entertained their leaders in their Texas Ranches. Except then there was no reason for the US government to interfere. Even now, the system hasn't really changed, just the chain of command has. The States is now focusing on handing over control to the Afghan people, but as far as the problems in their communities go, i.e. repression of women, honour killings etc. that is not going to change.. I have a friend serving in Afghanistan right now, who told me that in such cases, in order to maintain ties with the local rulers who they intend to leave the country with, they are not to interfere with their 'customs.'
ReplyDeleteAnd 'they' never attacked the US, if you're referring to the Afghan people, or even the ruling Taliban at the time. The issue at the time was, the US demanded they hand over Bin Laden, the Taliban said they would only do so if he was legally proven guilty, and would be tried in the International Courts. We all know what happened next, we all heard the speeches. 'You are either with us, or you are with the terrorists.' The people who paid the highest costs on both sides, whether it be the 3000 killed in 9/11, or the tens of thousands killed in the invasion, were the innocents, and now countless more on both ends of the spectrum stand at daggerheads, believing the opposite to be responsible for all the evils that exist as a consequence, whether that be 'islamic jihadist terrorists bent on destroying the west' or 'the american invaders intent on the persecution of muslims across the world.'
As the ordinary people, both are handed an ideology from the powers that be that suits their own agenda, and we're left with nothing but anger and prejudice while they play their games.
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ReplyDeleteYou are mixing up the causality. The only reason we have anything to do with Afghanistan and Pakistan is because of the nutjobs that attacked us 10 years ago. I agree that invading Iraq was a big mistake, but remember that it happened AFTER 9/11. Bin Laden and his psycho cohorts were not responding to any kind of real grievance, they just hated infidels and hated the fact that they were so much more powerful and advanced than the Islamic world.
ReplyDeleteYou know what began Bin Laden's career of anti-American terrorism? In 1990, he wanted to help Saudi Arabia fight Saddam Hussein with a purely Muslim fighters, but was enraged when the Saudis invited the infidel Americans, who would defile the holy land of Arabia with their infidel presence. In other words, he was insane.
Christ you people are stupid!!! WE THE USA CREATED AL QAEDA AND THE TALIBAN!!!! WE ARMED THEM AND FUNDED THEM WITH OUR TAX DOLLARS YOU BAFOON!!
ReplyDeleteAl-Qaeda grew out of the Services Office, a clearinghouse for the international Muslim brigade opposed to the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In the 1980s, the Services Office--run by bin Laden and the Palestinian religious scholar Abdullah Azzam--recruited, trained, and financed thousands of foreign mujahadeen, or holy warriors, from more than fifty countries. Bin Laden wanted these fighters to continue the "holy war" beyond Afghanistan. He formed al-Qaeda around 1988.
THATS FROM THE CFR. BIN LADEN GOES BACK FURTHER THAN THAT, LOOK UP TIM OSMAN
Wrong, wrong, wrong. You need a history lesson. OBL was a CIA asset. He was funded by your daddy's tax dollars to orchestrate the resistance to the Soviets in Afghanistan. The insurgency was started before the Russian invasion (July 1979 according to Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter's NSA) in order to entrap the Russians in a Vietnam of their own. The Russians had a treaty with the then left wing (and progressive) muslim government, who called the Soviets on their treaty obligations. The Russians had little choice but to invade - otherwise all their treaties (including the Warsaw Pact) would be worthless. Brzezinski knew the Russians would invade, but that was desirable from a US foreign policy perspective.
ReplyDeleteWhy did they use Bin Laden? Because the two families were old friends. George Bush Snr, was Director of the CIA at the time of Carter's Presidency and was close to the Bin Ladens through the oilman's connections.
We have been played all along I am afraid. How else could bin Laden arrange for the US air defenses to be stood down on 9/11? Either it was a lucky guess that he planned the whole thing to happen during (top secret) Air defense exercises, or he was tipped off, or (more likely) he didn't organise it at all, but took the glory in order to prove how successful his movement was becoming.
Before you yell "conspiracy nut" - please lookup the Brzezinski interview with Le Nouvel Observateur magazine, do some research and come back and apologise for your ignorance.
Ash, we have many thousands of Muslims now living in America. They are doing quite well and have a good life in America. In consideration of your statement, "
ReplyDeleteget out of their land!", does that mean that America should tell our Muslim brothers to get out of our land, to get out of America? Or does your rhetoric only work one way?
You see, the reality of the world today is that our planet is now an open book, the internet, the media, jet travel, and global business making us all part of a global community. This is called progress. I understand that many people do not want progress, but trying to hold back progress is like standing at the ocean's edge and trying to hold back the sea. Progress only moves in one direction, and that is always forward, even if that is not always desired by all it effects.
Terror is wrong on every level, terrorists are wrong to believe that violence justifies their beliefs. All over the world, people have a right to live in peace, to live with a sense of security, and to live in a world where our children will have access to all the good things that they deserve, education, equality, respect, and self determination.
No, ash, terrorists can not be defended, they cannot be tolerated, they cannot be accepted for any reason. What is desired, what is beautiful, are the men and women who are out in the streets of Egypt, of Libya, and of Syria fighting for their rights against dictators who have no regard for the will of the people...