Redstate

Your comment is correct as far as it goes. And they've never been hesitant to use their Security Council veto. But in the past their statements on sensitive international issues have generally been cryptic and elliptical. And part of that was, candidly, to avoid getting rebuked by us. (Face matters in international diplomacy.)

They're not afraid of that anymore. That's a change.

Openly supporting evil regimes is not new for China. Coming right out and telling the whole rest of the world (not just us) that we're all wrong, is very new for China.

..."No, you're wrong" to China, loudly and often. Western aid agencies are full of people who are very intelligent and experienced when it comes to large-scale disaster relief and public-health issues.

For Burma and China to say "the Burmese regime are responding to the crisis in a highly capable and competent way and don't need help from outsiders" is a pure whitewash over the Burmese regime's political fears (which are undoubtedly well-founded).

China reveres regime-stability above all else. Someone with a big megaphone needs to tell them that the humanitarian crisis trumps regime-stability.

And if Bush is afraid to have "What about Katrina?" thrown back in his face, then why don't McCain and Obama step up to the microphone?

If you think its needed for your earthquake why isn't it needed for the Burmese ? Are they better able to handle disasters ?

...foreign aid workers into the earthquake zone? My understanding is that they're accepting a limited amount of international aid but they're handling the relief effort themselves. I could be wrong.

blackhedd:
I know of one foreign assistance group in China; a Japanese search and rescue team is on hand in Sichuan.

" Got to love the Lord for making things like that."
Morally Compromised

"The Return of History and the End of Dreams"

When I get around to reading it, I'll post a review here.

Of course, China has never hesitated to interfere in the internal affairs of other states when it serves their interests. But let’s not be pointing fingers here.

One thing that African dictators love about China is that the Chinese are more than willing to pay for rubber plants, tire factories, oil drilling in Africa but without pre-conditions (unlike "those meddlesome Americans"). I'm not a China expert, but they don't seem to me to be married to the communist ideology in the same way that the USSR or Mao's China was (as a matter of foreign policy).

This is an oft-understated problem the international community faces in trying to pull that continent (so abundant in resources, yet so corrupt) out of the crapper. We have preconditions. China pays the dictators anyway. As a result, a majority of our state-to-state aid is completely wasted.

Unfortunately, this is merely my observation, and I offer no solution (way above my pay grade).

Support libertarian Republicans here and here.
www.rlc.org
www.fairtax.org

...high pay grades, and although I won't drop names here, you're in pretty good company with this view.

China is being very systematic about locking up their access to strategic resources for decades to come. They simply have resources to bear on Africa that we can't touch.

Africa's future looks a like like its colonial past, except that the colonizers won't be speaking English, French or German.

They've mixed in some Hitler and Mussolini, as they knew how to make Socialism strong.

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"If we want to take this party back, and I think we can someday, let’s get to work." – Barry Goldwater

Occasionally there are periods of anarchy. Occasionally they call it different things but it always winds up being the same thing. It's a family based oligarchy that picks a strong man (or not so strong man) as emperor. You have a modicum of merit based mobility as a release valve.

...read on China: "they're asleep, but when they wake up the world will shake."

They're awake now.