Huntsman's comment spurs debate in China
| Beijing
One advantage Jon Huntsman has going for him in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination is the fact that he understands China better than any of his rivals.
He was ambassador here for a couple of years, so he ought to.
Mr. Huntsman also knows that anything anyone in his position says in America about China will be instantly published here, so he won鈥檛 have been too surprised to hear that his comments the other day at the Republican candidates鈥� foreign policy debate have sparked a bit of a debate in China too.
Asked about his China policy, Huntsman said something interesting, that 鈥渨e should be reaching out to our allies and constituencies within China. They鈥檙e called the young people. They鈥檙e called the internet generation鈥�.and they are bringing about change the likes of which is going to take China down.鈥�
Whether he is right or wrong about this generation, some commentators here have taken his talk of 鈥渢aking China down鈥� badly.
In China, Washington is widely believed to have stirred up the democratic 鈥渃olor revolutions鈥� in former Soviet satellites such as Ukraine and Georgia, and Huntsman鈥檚 comment is being seen in this context.
鈥淢aking use of the internet to promote US values and then trigger political unrest can make the authorities lose control,鈥� argued Chen Bing, a news commentator on the popular Shenzhen satellite TV channel. 鈥淗untsman鈥檚 is not a new idea.鈥�
There is also a widespread feeling that the United States鈥� goal is to keep China down, and Huntsman鈥檚 remark has fed that fear.
鈥淣o matter whether we are a dictatorship or a democracy, the US just wants to take down China鈥檚 manufacturing industry,鈥� claimed one blogger joining an online discussion of Huntsman's comment.
Others took the former ambassador鈥檚 point, and supported him. 鈥淚sn鈥檛 it a good thing to take down China鈥檚 autocracy?鈥� asked one.
But Chinese observers are familiar enough with the American political process not to take anything they hear during a presidential campaign too seriously. 鈥淲hen Huntsman was ambassador he was comparatively friendly to China,鈥� pointed out Mr. Chen. Now he is a candidate 鈥渉e has to criticize China and talk about containing China if he wants to win.鈥�
