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S.E. Wood We'll never know who This is either the third or fourth article
I have written with this same title. The first such article concerned
the Chinese investment in our 1996 presidential election. Next
was the effort of the Chinese Liberation Army to lease the San
Diego Naval Base. Then the theft and/or purchase of our defense
secrets. Or maybe it was the Chinese control of the Panama Canal.
I forget. It seems every month or so there has been another U.S./China
crisis, and it doesn't look like it's going to get any better.
Unless you have been living in a cave for
the past several weeks, you know by now that this time the crisis
was the inadvertent collision of a Chinese jet fighter and a
U.S. reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea. They say
we did it. We say they did it. Who knows? However, one would
think it rather difficult for the military adaptation of the
old Lockheed Electra to run into anything. Those of you over
the age of 40 will recall that Eastern Airlines bought a whole
bunch of these old relics back in the '50s. No sooner were they
put into service, that their lack of speed and maneuverability
made them obsolete, and their cost no doubt contributed to the
eventual demise of Eastern. So it does stretch credibility to
believe that a 40-year-old Electra could abruptly turn into the
path of anything ... much less a supersonic jet fighter. But still, the Chinese wanted an official
American apology for our involvement in the collision, and for
landing on the first spot of dry land our pilot could find. And
we wanted our plane and crew returned ASAP. Sen. Barbara Feinstein,
D-CA, was eager to apologize, and did so on behalf of the U.S.
Congress. Jesse Jackson, D-Chicago, did so on behalf of everybody
else. But in the end, we all got a little bit of
something. President Bush wrote, in English, that he was "very
sorry" for the mishap. The Chinese promptly interpreted
that into their language as an "apology." They got
their version of an American apology. We got our crew back, but
not our plane ... which by now has been emptied of anything
of value. But the Chinese Commies did cave. Why? If
we can believe our news commentators, the Commies held all the
cards. There was no need for them to hurry a settlement, with
Jesse Jackson having already applied for a visa to come rescue
our servicemen and women, and Bill Clinton already scheduled
to visit China next month to pick up anybody Jesse might have
missed. All the Commies had to do was sit tight and wait for
Jackson and Clinton to deliver both a major diplomatic failure
and major political embarrassment to President Bush and the United
States of America. So, what happened? You and I will never know,
because we will never know all the facts. And that is probably
the way it should be. President Bush says he won. Chairman Jiang
Zemin says he won. Even Jesse claims he played an important role.
But if I had to bet, I would say that it was not the diplomatic
expertise of the current administration, or the Communist fear
of military retaliation, or even the spiritual advice of the
Rev. Jesse Jackson that caused the change of heart. But rather,
it was an explanation of the current-day Chinese facts of life,
as explained by representatives of Nike, Kmart, Wal-Mart, Dollar
General, and of course, Big Lots! And whether we like it or not, it's an American fact of life, too! |