| Jim Austin's Vermonter at Large |
 Jim Austin  His previous columns are archived HERE. |
Posted 04.12.01
Sorry about all that
How unreasonable is China over this spy plane situation?
Apology? For what?
There is no way that a prop-driven aircraft on autopilot could possibly have been the cause of a collision with a nimble fighter plane.
What exactly was that fighter doing anyway?
Before we address that little puzzle, let's see if there are any reasons why China should be so petulant with the good old USA. Maybe it is because the United States has been kicking China around for the last century or so.
Around 1900, after we occupied the Philippines, the U.S. became one of many foreign powers deemed to have influence in Asia. Europeans had divided China up into Spheres of Influence that basically meant that they divvied up Chinese markets between each other.
John Hay, the American Secretary of State, was eager to get a piece of the action and wrote to all the foreign powers and proposed an Open Door Policy, meaning that Chinese markets should be wide open to anyone who wanted to take advantage of them.
This, in part, lead to the infamous Boxer Rebellion in which anti-Christian, anti-Chinese-government rebels attempted to take over the country with an eye to throwing their own government the U.S. and the Europeans out.
That gave the U.S. and friends license to enter and sack the Forbidden City of Beijing. Eventually, the government and the rebels were brought down and a settlement was dictated by the U.S. in which Chinese markets were pillaged by the West until WWII.
During and shortly after WWII, Communist forces drove the corrupt U.S.-supported dictator Chiang Kai Shek out of China and onto the island of Taiwan. Since that time the United States has allied itself with Taiwan against the wishes of the Mainland Chinese Government.
We supply arms on a regular basis to Taiwan, which is an avowed enemy of China. Imagine what would happen if some country decided to arm Cuba against our wishes.
Oh right, that already happened and we almost started a nuclear war with the former USSR over the issue.
The next little tiff with China happened during the Korean War. We didn't like the idea of the Communists taking over the country so we sent our boys over there, ostensibly to fight the North Koreans but ended up fighting Communist Chinese troops.
Lately, on May 12, 1999, we bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade -- killing three and injuring 20. The targets were designated by the CIA, which admitted to using outdated road maps of Belgrade to plan the campaign of destruction.
Add to all of these arrogant American adventures the fact that we were caught spying on China. That aircraft that is currently grounded on a Chinese runway was not up there delivering sacks of wheat to starving babies. They were on an intelligence-gathering mission aimed at ferreting out Chinese secrets.
If the shoe were on the other foot we would be howling for Chinese blood.
Sometimes rightly -- and sometimes wrongly -- we have been adamantly anti-Chinese since the 1890s.
How must China feel after we embraced our enemy, the Japanese, who invaded, murdered. and looted Nanking and other Chinese cities during WWII?
Is it any wonder China is angry?
To the Chinese, these servicemen and servicewomen are spies and therefore criminals. We should feel fortunate that they are not in some dungeon awaiting trial.
I think asking for an apology is letting us off lightly. In fact the Government of China is no doubt subtly asking for an apology for our behavior toward China since the Boxer Rebellion in 1900.
As to the bleating about the Chinese military picking over the bones of our spy plane, let's hark back to days of yore.
When a Russian pilot stole a MIG-25 in the 70s and landed it in Japan, our military took nine weeks to disassemble it. They sent it back to Moscow in packing crates.
Since our government is unable to make the apologies necessary to get our agents on a plane out of town, I will be happy to do it.
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