China never ceases to amaze. Not only has the leadership done away with a promising soft-power campaign that was years in the making. It razed its own soft-power edifice to the ground, and salted the ruins so nothing can take root again. Why remains a mystery.
The latest trouble sign came after Typhoon Haiyan slammed into the Philippine Islands over the weekend, claiming at least more than 1,800 lives so far. Professor Mead posted an item marveling at the paltry sum Beijing committed to Philippine disaster relief. Upon reading it, I was sure Mead had omitted two or three zeroes. But sure enough, cross-checking his commentary against a Reuters report shows he had the figure right: US$100,000 in direct aid, and another US$100,000 through the Red Cross. Such token amounts give tokenism a bad name.
Forget smile diplomacy. This is sneer diplomacy. Many observers, myself included, ascribed Chinese inaction following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami to immature capability. The PLA hadn't yet fielded the expeditionary capabilities necessary to render assistance far from Chinese shores. Beijing did little because it could do little. Chinese forces, however, now own disaster-relief assets such as the hospital ship Peace Ark. Yet they remain idle. It's hard to escape the conclusion that Beijing is withholding help out of pique. Manila, after all, has the temerity to insist that its exclusive economic zone is, well, its exclusive economic zone. Seems political tit-for-tat trumps alleviating human suffering.
Such behavior appeared unthinkable not long ago, when China shrewdly put the faces of figures like Confucius and the Ming Dynasty admiral Zheng He on its rise to great power. The message: China is a uniquely benevolent great power, incapable of abusing small neighbors.
Such appeals worked so long as Beijing stuck to its narrative. Soft power is the "power of attraction," according to Professor Joe Nye, the concept's godfather. Naval Diplomat coauthor Toshi Yoshihara likes to ask whether it's a pheromone, or perfume. Answer: a pheromone.
Culture, institutions, and policies — the founts of soft power — must remain consistent for long periods of time to create expectations among target audiences. Erratic behavior, or behavior at odds with the image a country projects, is bound to strike observers as phony. Or rather, it's apt to discredit the narrative. A sliding standard of conduct is no standard at all. Skepticism, if not disbelief, will greet Chinese diplomacy the next time Beijing tries to daub on perfume. A faint stench will come through.
There's an upside to this from an American standpoint: China has made itself look small and petty, like a skinflint rather than a magnanimous power worthy of regional leadership. This is self-defeating conduct of a high order. Far be it from me to interfere with a strategic competitor intent on shooting himself in the foot. Fire!
Kanes
China should not give them any aid. Let their friend US do the honors. Looks like the shutdown is affecting the Phillipines now!
Once reconstruction begins, China can help them rebuild. A win-win situation.
With all this economic disaster will Phillipines waste more money on defence? Good if does because then it is playing into the trap of economic attrition.
James Foggo
Admiral James G. Foggo testified in the House Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces that “Using military for humanitarian assistance and disaster response is an integral part of the Air-Sea-Battle (ASB) plan.” Haiyan disaster in Philippines is a God sent opportunity for the USA to put Air-Sea-Battle plan in practice for China to see.
KC
I think it's for this reason why I've never considered China a great nation. Yes, it's one of the oldest. Yes, it's rich. Yes, it's strong. Yes, it has clout. Yes, it's even powerful. But great? The whole world has seen it for themselves. There is no compassion, no sense of humanity, no solidarity with the human condition in both its government and it's citizens as can be observed from the netizens who gave sent in their vitriol. It's all about shaming people who stand in their way–even if these people have a legitimate claim to the very little marine real estate surrounding their shores. The insensitive, callous, petty remarks by Chinese netizens are quite consistent with their insensitive, callous, and petty a government. That's why China is not a great nation–and will never be. The U.S., despite its arrogance, shows what real greatness and magnanimity are from its ordinary citizens who are scampering to send aid to typhoon victims to their government that is now helping with relief efforts. THAT is what greatness consists of–compassion, generosity, and magnanimity. And this is in fact what the rest of the international community has shown, even as far as Chile. However that big, rich country right next door to the Philippines who brags that they're the second largest economy in the world? They've merely shown that compared to many other countries, they fall painfully short of greatness, nobility. They're the quintessential noveau rich–wealthy real fast but who's bad manners still show. I think I know why they've singled out the U.S. as their prime competitor in terms of influence and power–it's because the U.S. have proven historically what real greatness is. China may one day surpass the U.S. in terms of economic size, even surpass it perhaps militarily (I doubt it, though)–it already has in arrogance. But greatness? It doesn't know the real meaning of the word. How could it? It only knows wealth as the highest value. It brainwashes its people to believe its own lies. The Philippines has merely claimed islets that are close to its shores according to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea and has requested arbitration procedures to clarify the law. Do the Chinese know what this act of seeking arbitration means? It means the Philippines will abide with international law whatever the outcome. What's wrong with these? They're legitimate actions. They're legal actions. They're civilized actions. Ironically it's one of the oldest civilizations in the world that has proven to be uncivilized. And for these legitimate and legal and civilized actions the Chinese–from the government to its citizens–sneer at the hapless citizens who have lost lives and homes with their grudging and paltry donations! I think they've just shown the world the kind of country and people they are. I think of the 1.3 billion Chinese, it was only the editor of the Global Times that kinda got it right. 1 in 1.3 billion!!!! A great country? Ha!
James Foggo
Haiyan is a God sent opportunity for us (the USA) to put Air-Sea-Battle plan in practice for China to see, we showed China that the prelude of the Air-Sea-Battle campaign is manufacturing consent, even though China donates more than one million bucks and more than 10 million bucks of disaster relieve materials to Philippines in the Haiyan natural disaster, but we still can fabricate consent around the world to make China look bad and ugly.
ELasker
I believe China should give much more official aid. This is how the confident projects its power.
Little Helmsman
Why is this a surprise that China would offer such a paltry sum to help alleviate the humanitarian disaster in the Philippines? It's not like the rulers in Beijing give a rat's ass to the suffering of their own people so why should they care for the suffering of Filipinos. China will always be China. That's why China will not be a superpower or will have any pretense of soft power as anything in China is not attractive to anyone except the few leftist Westerners who have a fetish for turd world, communist dictatorship.
Remember the rulers in Beijing don't even except the concept of the universality of human rights, therefore, they accept the premise that Chinese are not really human so do not deserve human rights.
Little Helmsman
Should read as: accept the concept of universality of human rights……
Give it a rest
Little Helmsman, give it a rest, pal. No one with half a brain will take you seriously.
China is better than the hypocritical US when it comes to human rights. At least China isn't illegally invading other countries, bombing civilians with impunity, or torturing illegally kipnapped Pakistani or Afghani villagers at the infamous Guantanamo Bay concentration camp. Over the past 15 years the US has killed over a million civilians, displaced several millions of refugees, and permanently disfigured countless others. The US has the largest prison population in the world, and it's also the only country that makes a business out of incarcerating people!
Keys
The Philippines is one of the most incompetently governed countries in Asia. The government can't stop senseless population growth, or draw sound economic plans, and yet competes against others for more territories in the South China Sea. There is nothing new about the Philippines' vulnerability to destructive Typhoons, nor its lack of ability to cope.
Why should China give money to the Philippines, knowing that the money will be used for armed conflicts against China? Besides, the money the bankrupt US government pledged for relief is really borrowed money from China. (Remember that only a few weeks ago the US govt, a third-world-caliber government similar to or worse than the one in the Philippines, was shut down amid spending arguments in its juvenile, over-grown spoiled-brats-filled Congress.