Big Brother: Alive And Well In Beijing

By Paul Brandus - Talk Radio News Service

Metal detectors. Visitors getting wanded. Backpacks and packages carefully screened. It’s awfully nice of the Chinese authorities to lay on all the extra security here at the Beijing Marriott while President Obama is in town.

They say it’s for our protection, we grizzled war correspondents who’ve survived Iraq, Afghanistan and other hellholes. I for one am scared to death here and appreciate the dainty young ladies with white gloves keeping the bad guys out of this plush oasis. Phew!

I sincerely doubt it’s for our benefit. More likely it’s to make it harder for us to conduct interviews with dissidents, rogue Chinese journalists and others who may have something to say that displeases the regime. We can certainly go out and meet these people in other locations, but the tight schedule we’re on makes it logistically very difficult to get away. Easier for them to come to us, hence the watchdogs downstairs. The authorities know how the game is played.

But Big Brother’s not just down in the lobby. He's right here in room 9055. He's blocked me from accessing Twitter and Facebook on my laptop (though they haven’t figured out how to keep me from tweeting on my BlackBerry). And even though this sparkling Marriott is high-tech from top to bottom, the phone on the desk makes some strange clicks whenever I make a call. Maybe it’s nothing, but it reminds me of trying to make phone calls when I worked in the Soviet Union during the bad old days of the KGB.

Indeed, China’s version of the KGB – which, by the way, I can’t seem to research on Google – has apparently been busy clamping down both before and during Obama’s visit. Agence France Presse reported earlier this week that authorities rounded up several dissidents and activists, fearing they could embarrass the leadership.

One person rounded up, says AFP, was a man named Zhao Lianhai, leader of an activist group of parents whose children were allegedly sickened by tainted milk. Zhao’s wife says he was “criminally detained for ‘provoking an incident’.” Another activist group, Human Rights in China, claims Zhao was handcuffed and taken away last week by police officers who also seized computers, a video camera and an address book.

Obama himself has made things easier for the authorities. He hasn’t met anyone who wasn’t prescreened. No free press advocates, no human rights groups, no political opposition. What about Tuesday’s “town hall” in Shanghai? Every student was carefully vetted for their reliability and prepped on how to behave.

Even worse, the White House advance team considered, but rejected a meeting with political activists, only to drop it from the schedule due to time constraints, reports the New York Times. Yet Obama found time yesterday to stroll through the Forbidden City and today visits the Great Wall of China.

It’s the first time an American President has tacitly agreed to be muzzled here. In 1998, President Clinton went on state-run TV and angered his Chinese hosts by discussing human rights, the Dalai Lama and the still-taboo bloody crackdown on Tiananmen Square. In 2002, President Bush talked about the importance of personal freedom and the rule of law. But for Obama’s visit, the White House didn’t insist on a national platform for the President, and the Chinese never offered him one.

Paul Brandus filed this report from Beijing

Human Rights, Iran, Clean Energy Top Obama Talks with China’s Hu

By Paul Brandus - Talk Radio News Service

It has been a very busy day for President Obama on his first and only full day in the Chinese capital.

After a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao got right down to business, hitting on every single subject of importance; “Every single one,” emphasized Jon Huntsman, the American Ambassador to the People’s Republic - Iran, North Korea, the global economy, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“We’re actually getting a little bit of traction” on these issues, claimed Huntsman, the former Republican Governor of Utah.

Observers have been speculating for weeks whether Obama, not known for being a confrontationist, would take up the issue of human rights with his hosts. It is a subject the President has avoided with Beijing, underscored by his recent decision not to meet with the Dalai Lama, the spritual leader of Tibet, for fear of offending the Chinese government. But Obama did, in fact, confront Hu, challenging him to protect the freedom of religion and the rights of ethnic minorities in the separatist region.

“The President was candid in describing human rights as a core, a fundamental, bedrock principle of U.S. foreign policy,” said Jeff Bader, senior director of the National Security Council for Asian Affairs. “This was as direct a discussion on human rights as I've seen by any high-level visitor with the Chinese.”

But Obama apparently stopped short of saying Tibet should be allowed to break away, an omission regarded by some observers as a de facto acknowledgement with Beijing that Tibet is legally part of the People’s Republic.

As for Iran and its nuclear program, Obama - who warned over the weekend that time is running out for Tehran to come to the negotiating table in earnest - failed to get much support from Hu, according to Bader. Obama has said that if Tehran doesn’t meet the so-called P5+1 negotiators halfway by the end of the year, then tougher economic sanctions may be inevitable. The President has also refused to rule out the possible use of force against Iran.

It seems unlikely that China, which like the U.S. holds permanent veto power in the U.N. Security Council, would ever back tough new sanctions against Tehran barring a dramatic change in the status quo, Bader said.

“The President did talk to President Hu about the possibility… that we will not reach resolution of this issue and we may have to go to track two and greater pressure. I would not say that we got an answer today from the Chinese, nor did we expect one on the subject.”

Hu seems more concerned with neighboring North Korea, which tested a second nuclear device earlier this year and taunted neighbors, and the U.S., by test firing more missiles.

“From the Chinese perspective, North Korea is a more immediate problem and a more immediate security concern, so it's not surprising that they would place more emphasis on that.” Bader added.

On climate change, the U.S. and China will join forces to, among other things, speed up renewable energy programs, develop electric cars and clean coal technologies. But both Obama and Hu have tacitly acknowledged that next month’s long-awaited global climate conference in Denmark will not result in a treaty to curb carbon emissions, a setback to supporters of rolling back emissions. Washington and Beijing now view Copenhagen as just another step along the way towards meaningful action on curbing emissions, as opposed to the kind of sweeping action that supporters say is already dangerously overdue.

“They agreed that the issue of climate change can't wait,” claimed Deputy National Security Advisor Mike Froman, who said the joint efforts to develop new technologies represents “an important step forward on climate change.”

The President also squeezed in a bit of sightseeing today, ditching his suit for a distressed leather jacket before embarking on a tour of the Forbidden City. Wednesday, it’s off to the Great Wall of China, an hour’s drive northwest of Beijing. Mr. Obama then heads to South Korea, the final stop on his Asian tour. He’ll return to Washington on Thursday.

Paul Brandus filed this report from Beijing

If It's Tuesday, It Must Be Beijing – I Think

By Paul Brandus - Talk Radio News Service

BEIJING - It’s hard to keep up with President Obama. Whether it’s pressing the “reset” button in Moscow, turning a new page with Muslims in Cairo, or talking books with Hugo Chavez in Trinidad, the new U.S. President has traveled the equivalent of three times around the equator – far more in his first ten months in office than any of his recent predecessors, according to White House travel records.

His latest batch of frequent flyer miles: this week’s 22,000 mile slog through Japan, Singapore, China and South Korea. And preparations are already underway for next month’s trip to Oslo, where Obama will pick up his Nobel Peace Prize – and maybe make a side trip to the Copenhagen climate summit – a city he just visited in his failed bid to bring the Olympics to Chicago.

All told, the energetic Mr. Obama has made no less than 7 trips abroad to 19 countries, spending nearly 12% of his time out of the United States. Why?

“With all due respect to the prior administration, it can be argued that a lot of damage was done to America’s reputation abroad,” says a senior U.S. official here in Beijing. “I spent the last few years getting the door slammed in my face…it got harder to get some things done.” The official, who has served in the Middle East as well, detects a shift in the way foreigners perceive the United States and its policies.

That perception is borne out, to a large extent, by a Pew Global Attitudes Project survey released last week, which says citizens along this week’s stop – Japan, China and South Korea – are more comfortable with Barack Obama in the White House than they were with George W. Bush.

Here in China, for example, 62% of respondents say they have “some” or “a lot” of confidence in Obama; last year it stood at 30%. In South Korea, the needle jumped from 30% to 81%, and in Japan from 25% to 85%. The gains among key U.S. allies in Europe are even more dramatic. Last year, 14% of Germans had confidence in Bush. Today, 93% do in Obama. Britain jumped from 16% to 86%, and even the finicky French got on board, with the number surging from 13% to 91%.

In Arab and Muslim countries, the Pew study says the Obama effect has been more muted. In 2008, 7% of Pakistanis had confidence in Bush; 13% now do in Obama. In Egypt, the number stands at 42%, and in the world’s biggest Muslim nation, Indonesia, where Obama spent part of his childhood, the number increased 26 percentage points to 63%. Strong gains for Obama – or simply relief in some quarters now that Mr. Bush has left the stage.

But does this personal approval of Obama translate into political achievement on the world stage? Mr. Obama, thus far, has been unable to move the Middle East peace process along, and Iran shows few signs of backing down from its nuclear program. Mr. Obama, probably goaded by Israel, warned Tehran over the weekend that time is running out. North Korea, meanwhile, tested a second nuclear device in May along with a series of cruise missiles and continues to both tease and taunt the West about negotiations.

On turning back global warming, a key Obama objective, next month’s Copenhagen climate summit will come and go with no substantive, let alone binding agreement to reduce carbon emissions. The most substantive and far-reaching goals have been kicked down the road, and although the House of Representatives has passed legislation, Senate passage of a similar climate/energy bill is far from certain.

In Afghanistan, the war Mr. Obama has called “essential,” he has been unable to persuade allies to send meaningful numbers of reinforcements, thus upping the pressure on him to consider a “surge” of tens of thousands of fresh U.S. troops. Last week, Mr. Obama rejected all four Afghan options presented to him by his advisors; another Situation Room meeting on the issue will be held when the President returns from Asia.

“What’s clear is that while personal appeal - the kind President Obama has in droves – certainly doesn’t hurt, it’s no guarantee that a leader will be able to advance his or her agenda,” says the American official. Still, the world clearly appears more comfortable with this president than the prior one. Mr. Obama can only hope that all the miles, all the jet lag and all the handshakes and photo-ops with foreign leaders has laid the foundation for overseas achievements that thus far, have largely proven elusive.

Paul Brandus filed this report from Beijing

President Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

Photo courtesy Mike Memoli, RealClearPolitics

By Talk Radio News Service White House Staff

President Obama says he was "surprised and deeply humbled" to be awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize. Mr. Obama, who learned the news in a 6:00 a.m. phone call from White House Secretary Robert Gibbs, will travel to Oslo, Norway for the Dec. 10 award ceremony, which comes with a $1.4 million prize.

Standing in a sunny Rose Garden Friday morning, Obama said he doesn't feel like he deserves "to be in the company" of prior winners," adding "I do not view it as a recognition of my accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership."

The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which made the stunning announcement around 5:00 a.m. Eastern time, said it selected Mr. Obama for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."

Asked by Talk Radio News about First Lady Michelle Obama's reaction, the President declined to comment. He appeared to downplay the event, saying daughter Malia came into the their bedroom to say "You won the Nobel Peace Prize."

Just 8 1/2 months into the job, Mr. Obama is now the third sitting American President to win the coveted award. Theodore Roosevelt won in 1906 for brokering an end to a war betwen Russia and Japan, and Woodrow Wilson was selected for the honor in 1919 for helping to establish the League of Nations after World War I.