US is victim of its own 'Red Scare'

• Source: Global Times
• [03:31 March 05 2010]
• Comments

By Peng Kuang

US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg chose a good time to visit China: just at the beginning of the "two sessions" in Beijing.

Every March, the Great Hall of the People serves as a great place to talk about the issues that concern Chinese people, to review past experiences and decide on next year's plans.

China's diplomacy, as a continuation of domestic affairs, also receives much attention during these two meetings.

Steinberg came after the problems caused by the US: Arms sales to Taiwan and meeting Dalai Lama in the White House. While in Beijing, he would be expected to raise these issues to domestic compulsions.

But our lonely planet consists of not only the US. Their 300 million population accounts for only 5 percent of world population. That excuses can be found within conditions in the US doesn't mean those excuses would be bought in Beijing.

Currently, both China and the US are facing their own problems. China's quality of life for vast sections is far below that in the developed countries; all governments are squeezed by several million unemployed new graduates every year; the dangerous environment drives China even faster than the US into going green. The further adjustment in financial structures, such as China's medical reform, is about to begin.

President Obama is also surrounded by troubles. His healthcare reform plan has just taken a heavy hit. The financial crisis is still a drag on the US economy.

The US worry over its own problems has become a new "Red Scare," as described by Steven Mufson and John Pomfret in an op-ed article in The Washington Post last week.

Should Steinberg arrange to meet some of the NPC deputies or the CPPCC members to hear about what are the real concerns of ordinary Chinese people, he would find the US is not on their list of problems. Housing prices, employment, anti-corruption, environment are the issues on the agenda of meetings.