I've been away from blogging at Daily Kos for a while due to a job change, moving house, and other issues with expat life here in Shanghai, but had to come back online to express my pride in Vice-President Biden's performance during his visit to China the last two days. Not only did Biden do his best to calm tensions between China and Japan in the East China Sea, but he stood up for press freedom and encouraged young people in China to challenge their government.
If anyone in Beijing was expecting a kowtow from Biden, they were sorely disappointed. No resolution was expected in the dispute over China's new Air Defense Identification Zone in the East China Sea, and none was reached. Biden stood firm, however, in his and the Obama administration's objections to China throwing its weight around and escalating tensions with its neighbors.
Perhaps more notably, Biden stood up for US and other Western journalists facing expulsion from China for reporting critical of the Chinese government. While Chinese "journalists" (i.e., government propagandists) are free to roam the US and the globe "reporting" as they and their masters in Beijing will, the Chinese government has been aggressively kicking Western journalists out of China and denying visas for any reporting they do that the government doesn't like. Media have been complaining about this for some time now, and it's about time someone of Biden's stature from the Obama administration took a stand on the issue. This is not something that China should be allowed to continue getting away with.
Notable also were Biden's remarks to Chinese students and others awaiting student visas at the US Embassy in Beijing. Much to the chagrin of the Chinese government, I'm happily certain, Biden told visa applicants: "Innovation can only occur when you can breathe free, challenge the government, challenge your teachers, challenge religious leaders." These remarks were, of course, censored out of Chinese "news" coverage of Biden's visit, but they were heard by a large gathering of visa applicants in Beijing and will hopefully be heard by folks back home in America.
There have been times, perhaps, when Biden should have avoided shooting his mouth off. This was not one of those times. When you live in China as I do, you grow tired of watching Western leaders bend their knees to Chinese dictators for the sake of Chinese money. UK prime minister David Cameron was also in China this week, hat in hand, avoiding talk of anything but Sino-British business deals for his rich Tory friends. Human rights advocates in the UK were bitterly disappointed in his performance, and the British press is roasting him for it.
Not so with Joltin' Joe. From my point-of-view here in China, at least, Biden should return to a hero's welcome in the US.