International Relations -- Beijing's Hot Potato

April 8, 2008

by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matt Corley, Ali Frick, and Benjamin Armbruster

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Beijing's Hot Potato

Hosting the 2008 Summer Olympic games in Beijing was supposed to be China's "coming-out party," a chance to showcase its remarkable pace of economic development and "to claim its place as a 21st-century world power." "Not so fast," say human rights activists and others deeply concerned about China's human rights record; its handling of Tibet; and its support for the regime in Sudan, which is enabling the grim situation in Darfur. In February, Hollywood director Steven Spielberg withdrew as artistic adviser to the games in protest of China's relationship with Sudan. Now, protesters and activists are seizing an opportunity to highlight China's dismal rights record by disrupting the traditional torch relay as it travels around the world. Yesterday, thousands of demonstrators "forced cancellation of the last leg of the Olympic torch ceremony in Paris" with "repeated attacks on the procession." On at least three occasions, "the torch was extinguished and the athletes retreated for protection into buses." The Paris protests followed similar demonstrations at torch relays in London, Istanbul, and Olympia, Greece. Today, the torch arrives in San Francisco for the next leg of the Olympic torch run; authorities there are expecting large protests similar to those seen in London and Paris. The Chinese government has denounced the recent spate of protests and has "asked the United States to ensure that the next leg in San Francisco avoids similar mayhem." But Students for a Free Tibet already took a head start yesterday, unfurling two large banners from the Golden Gate Bridge reading, "One World, One Dream" and "Free Tibet, 08."

TIBET GETS THE BALL ROLLING: Though the Chinese government considers Tibet to be part of China, Tibetans have resisted what they perceive as forced cultural and political assimilation. Last month, the biggest demonstrations in the last 20 years began in Lhasa, Tibet's capital, to mark the 49th anniversary of the failed Tibetan revolt against the Chinese Communist occupation and the Dalai Lama's flight into exile. Protests escalated to random acts of violence as riots spread to the neighboring province of Gansu where demonstrators tried to storm a government office but were repelled by "roughly 100 armed troops with tear gas." Tibet's government-in-exile has said around 140 people were killed in the unrest, while China's official numbers are much lower. Violence and demonstrations simmered, however, as the Dalai Lama said he was prepared to meet with Chinese leaders and has stated that he wants autonomy, not independence, for Tibet.

CHINA'S AFRICA PROBLEM: Although a recent U.S. State Department report did not name China among the world's worst human rights offenders, it did state that the Chinese "government's human rights record remained poor" and specifically mentioned China's Tibet policy. But beyond Tibet, China's close relationship with Sudan is "underwriting the genocide in Darfur." As Sudan's largest trading partner, arms provider, and defender at the United Nations, China is in the best position to influence Khartoum to mitigate the humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur. But so far, progress has been limited and "the humanitarian and security situation has deteriorated dramatically" in Darfur recently. But turmoil is also brewing in neighboring Chad, where the government is "among the world's most venal and its citizens are among the world's most destitute and disenfranchised." Chad is currently dealing with its own very serious internal crisis "in the wake of the most recent coup attempt," a situation that "provides an accommodating theater for regional conflict and proxy war," which is not helpful to Darfur. China also can influence the deteriorating situation in Chad, as its clout with the Central African country "is expanding rapidly due to its growing commercial ties." While the United States and the European Union are "guilty of putting band-aids over gaping wounds" regarding Chad, "China remains unswerving in its stated policy of non-interference with internal politics."

TALK OF BOYCOTTS: A Zogby poll of American opinion released yesterday found that 70 percent of respondents said that the International Olympic Committee was wrong to award the Olympic games to China. The survey also found that 48 percent -- a plurality in the poll -- think U.S. officials should not attend the games' opening ceremony due to China's poor human rights record. Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Maxine Waters (D-CA) have each introduced legislation to boycott the games, while just last month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel "became the first world leader to decide not to attend the Olympics in Beijing." French President Nicolas Sarkozy would "not rule out" a boycott of the opening ceremony, but both British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd have said they plan to attend the games. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) have both called on President Bush to boycott the opening ceremony in Beijing but Bush has refused, saying, "I view the Olympics as a sporting event."

ADMINISTRATION -- CHERTOFF FACES LEGAL CHALLENGE ON WAIVING LAWS TO BUILD BORDER FENCE: Last week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it would use its authority to bypass several laws and regulations that could impede its progress to build a fence on the southern border between the United States and Mexico. The authority comes from a 2005 law, which also stripped courts of the right to review the decisions made by DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff -- in effect granting "the executive branch more of the sort of unilateral power the Bush administration has so often claimed for itself." The Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club sued Chertoff last year over his decision to suspend 19 environmental laws to build the fence through a national conservation area in Arizona. "Fourteen House Democrats, including eight committee chairman, said yesterday that they will file a brief supporting" the legal challenge to Bush's fence plans. Ironically, even as Chertoff announced he would ignore numerous laws to proceed with the fence, he declared last week, speaking of illegal immigration, "there's no excuse for not complying with the law as it's been set forth."

JUSTICE-- CONGRESS ADDS PRESSURE ON DEPT. OF JUSTICE TO RELEASE CLASSIFIED MEMOS: Last Tuesday, the Defense and Justice Departments released a previously-classified 2003 memo claiming that "federal laws prohibiting" torture against al Qaeda captives did not apply because the President's "ultimate authority" overrides those laws. The release of this memo has led members of both the House and the Senate to add pressure for the release of other documents that include information about "the treatment of detainees and the warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens." Most of the pending legislative requests cover national security, notes the Washington Post. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) called these documents "the secret justifications of presidential lawlessness." Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), in his request of 2001 documents on presidential war powers, said that actions carried out under "'secret' powers known only to the President" are "antithetical" to the U.S. constitution.

IRAQ -- IGNORING UPTICK IN VIOLENCE, SENATORS ACCUSE WAR CRITICS OF 'A CRISIS OF CREDIBILITY': Writing in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) accused critics of the Iraq war of facing "a crisis of credibility" because they "confidently predicted the failure of the surge." But in their effort to argue that anti-war critics have "been proven decidedly wrong," Lieberman and Graham undermined their own credibility on the issue by ignoring recent developments in the war-torn country. As proof of the surge's success, the two senators cited statistics "from June 2007 through February 2008" that they say show "dramatic improvements in security." But the fact that Lieberman and Graham cited statistics only through February -- even though numbers for March 2008 are available -- undercuts their argument. Perhaps they ignored March because there was "a 25 or 30 percent increase in the number of civilian casualties" from February to March. March also saw the first such monthly increase in ethno-sectarian violence between Iraqis "since last July." While accusing their political opponents of "a crisis of credibility," Lieberman and Graham are making their argument in such a way that undermines their own credibility.

Aides say in today's testimony, Gen. Petraeus will recommend keeping "troop levels steady" after July and will "also tell lawmakers that Iraq's security situation has improved markedly in recent months but that the gains are fragile and could be easily reversed."

$4 million: The cost of extending Vice President Cheney's Secret Service protection for six months after the Bush administration ends. Because federal law grants protection only to the president and his family, "[e]xtending Cheney's detail would require a directive from the president or a joint resolution of Congress."

Elizabeth Edwards will be joining the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF) as a senior fellow. "In her new role, Edwards, who has gained a considerable following in the liberal blogosphere thanks to her willingness to vocally oppose conservative politicos from Sen. John McCain to commentator Ann Coulter, will also be contributing" to ThinkProgress, CAPAF's blog.

In interviews with the Wall Street Journal, former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan is defending himself against claims that "his management of the U.S. economy before he retired in 2006" sowed "the seeds of today's financial crisis." "I was praised for things I didn't do," said Greenspan. "I am now being blamed for things that I didn't do." He does admit, however, that "he was wrong about the improbability of a housing bubble."

Senate Republicans last night blocked a proposal to extend the FISA wiretapping law for another 30 days because Democrats oppose granting immunity for telecommunications companies. "It's time for us to get serious and protect the companies that protect us," Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said.

Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced today that he is "indefinitely postponing mass anti-U.S. demonstrations planned for the following day because of fear his supporters would be attacked. The 'million-strong march' was scheduled to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad and had raised the prospect of mass action or unrest coinciding with testimony in Congress by the top U.S. officials in Iraq."

Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) may be called to testify on behalf of Deborah Palfrey, who was "accused of running an upscale Washington prostitution service." Randall Tobias, a former senior State Department official, was also named a possible witness.

And finally: A new Fox 5/The Washington Times/Rasmussen poll finds that 71 percent of Americans believe politicians "embellish the truth" when discussing past accomplishments. The group most "leery" of politicians is men under the age of 40, "with 83 percent agreeing politicians exaggerated. The least suspicious were women younger than 40, at 64 percent."

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"Marriott International announced a broad strategy yesterday to reduce its impact on the environment, pledging $2 million to protect the Brazilian rain forest and promising that by the end of the year its guests will be able to offset greenhouse gas emissions from their hotel stays."

NEW JERSEY: Legislature approves plan to "offer workers up to six weeks' leave to care for sick family members and newborn or adopted children."

NEW YORK: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan fails.

VIRGINIA: "A highly touted partnership between the Prince William County jail and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is showing signs of strain."

MASSACHUSETTS: "As domestic homicides more than doubled in Massachusetts, judges across the state sent only about half as many batterers to abuse intervention programs last year as they did in 2003."

THINK PROGRESS: Former Pentagon official Doug Feith shows consistency in blaming others for Iraq war's failures.

WONK ROOM: The lifestyles of the rich and famous...and foreclosed.

GLENN GREENWALD: Public opinion on Iraq differs greatly with the opinions of the political and media establishment.

CONNECTICUT BOB: Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT) admits that he never read the pre-war National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq.

"I think, if as I believe, the President would never approve such a bill."
-- Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, 9/16/07, on Sen. Jim Webb's (D-VA) amendment to mandate that troops' home leave equals the length of deployments

VERSUS

"A senior administration official said Friday that plans are to deploy soldiers for 12 months, then give them 12 months rest time at home."
-- AP, 4/5/08

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Beijing's Hot Potato

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