Taiwan

A Woman As German Chancellor; A Woman As British Prime Minister; A Woman As President Of The United States; Why Not?

The world is reaching a moment to celebrate!

We have had a woman as German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, since November 2005.

We will now have a woman as British Prime Minister, Theresa May, in two days.

And in November, four months from now, we are very likely to have a woman President elected, Hillary Clinton.

And why not?

It is long overdue that this has happened!

We have seen several nations in South America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile) and two in Europe (Norway, Poland), and two in Asia (South Korea, Taiwan) with female leaders, along with past woman leaders in India, Pakistan, Israel, and Great Britain, among others.

It is time to put women into power, as so many men have done so much damage over time, and there is no special talent to govern held by men, so this development is wonderful and laudatory!

Presidents And Difficult Diplomacy: TR, FDR, Truman, JFK, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, Obama

Presidents have to deal with recalcitrant nations in diplomacy, including nations that are our adversaries.

The key is to promote agreements, with the ability to verify and hold nations accountable, under international agreement. It is not an issue of trust, as many nations see other nations as rivals, but rather the ability to come to agreements with the understanding that violations can lead to a confrontational situation if they are not kept.

Presidents have regularly taken bold steps in diplomacy with other nations, whereby they suffered from strong criticism as being naive and weak, but history tells us they actually demonstrated courage and principle, that international agreements could be upheld if both sides wish to avoid military confrontation.

So we have President Theodore Roosevelt negotiating agreements with a newly ambitious Japan after the Russo-Japanese War.

So we have President Franklin D. Roosevelt deciding to establish diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union after 16 years of non recognition.

So we have President Harry Truman deciding to recognize Israel, and in so doing, alienating Arab nations in the Middle East.

So we have President John F. Kennedy agreeing to the Nuclear Best Ban Treaty in 1963 with the Soviet Union, and it is still in effect today. This came after the Cuban Missile Crisis, which many believed the result would not be obeyed by the Soviet Union, but they did precisely what was required under the settlement.

So we have President Richard Nixon, who made arms limitation agreements (SALT I) with the Soviet Union, and opened the door to contacts with the People’s Republic of China, both moves that are now hailed, although criticized at the time.

SO we have President Jimmy Carter accomplishing something no one would have believed, an agreement between Israel and Egypt, and mutual recognition, in what became known as the Camp David Accords. Additionally, Carter decided to recognize the Communist government in China as being China, rather than Taiwan.

So we have President Ronald Reagan, after calling the Soviet Union an “evil empire”, negotiate arms agreements with Mikhail Gorbachev.

So we have President Bill Clinton bringing about peace between the Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, an event that seemed impossible of achievement, known as the Good Friday Agreements of 1998. He also established diplomatic relations with Vietnam, a generation after the end of the divisive war in Vietnam was lost.

So now we have President Barack Obama negotiating an agreement to prevent Iran from having nuclear weapons, with five other nations engaged in the process, and to prevent war, while guaranteeing the security of Israel and Arab nations. Like all the others, it is a gamble, as no one can be sure of Iran’s ultimate actions, but it has worked out in all of the other cases. He also has established diplomatic relations with the government of Fidel and Raul Castro in Cuba.

And yet, nothing is a panacea, as Russia and China still present a challenge, but progress was made to avoid war, and that is happening again now, with the understanding that if the agreement is broken, war is always an ultimate alternative!

Presidents And Dictatorships: Double Standard Of Critics Of Obama Change Of Cuban Policy

Presidents of the United States deal with reality, not what they might wish was so.

America has had diplomatic relations with all sorts of terrible people who govern the world’s nations over time.

Latin American dictatorships, including those of Fulgencio Batista in Cuba; Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic; the Duvalier dynasty, father and son, in Haiti; Anastasio Somoza in Nicaragua; and military dictatorships in all of the South American nations at different times, have been accepted by American Presidents.

Our Presidents have dealt with Asian dictatorships, including China beginning with Richard Nixon; and with Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Vietnam, South Korea for decades, Laos, Cambodia, Afghanistan and the former Soviet Republics, now independent, but almost all of them dictatorships.

We have dealt with the Arab nations of the Middle East and with Iran under the Shah, despite their harsh dictatorships.

We have had dealings with African dictatorships of all stripes, including South Africa under Apartheid; and the brutal governments of much of the continent.

Somehow, Cuba has been seen differently, when the governments of many of the world’s nations has been far worse in their oppression than Fidel and Raul Castro.

This is not saying that Fidel and Raul Castro cannot, rightfully, be condemned for their human rights violations, but if human rights was the guide, we would not have any diplomatic relations or trade with 80 percent of the world!

When Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and the two Presidents Bush have embraced, and even endorsed, dictators, it was always seen as no big deal, but when Barack Obama opens up to Cuba after 54 years, it is perceived as a crime of massive proportions, while we willingly accepted the previous harsh dictatorship in Cuba of Batista and his henchmen!

Hypocrisy anyone?

Richard Nixon (China) And Barack Obama (Iran): Why Not Try Diplomacy Before War?

Forty years ago, Richard Nixon, a Republican President, took a bold step and went to visit and negotiate with the government of the People’s Republic Of China, better known in America as Communist China or Red China.

We had had no negotiations or dealings with mainland China since 1949, had made a career of demonizing the leadership of that nation, and had made clear that we would defend the island of Taiwan (Nationalist China) at all costs. We had also fought Chinese troops in the Korean War, and had known of Chinese support of the North Vietnamese in the Vietnam War, and were still bombing near the Chinese border.

But with all that, Richard Nixon went to China, negotiated trade and travel and cultural exchanges, and opened up our country and China to the promotion of less fear and more diplomacy and understanding in the interests of international harmony and avoidance of war.

Many conservatives bitterly condemned Nixon for going to China, and reversing his own anti Communist stand of twenty five years standing. But Nixon went anyway, and this occurred in an election year. It was statesmanlike and showed Nixon to be a pragmatic man in foreign policy.

Today, in 2012, forty years later, we are on the brink of possible military conflict with Iran, with which we have not had real dealings since the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the fall of the Shah of Iran from power. Iran has become a very belligerent state, heavy on rhetoric and threats, similar to what China was for 25 years. In the case of Iran, it is now 33 years since the two nations, in the midst of tensions and stress, have sat down and tried to negotiate differences.

It may seem as if there is very little hope for a breakthrough with a harsh enemy who wishes us ill, but remember that was the same mentality toward China, and even more so, toward the Soviet Union, during the Cold War years, but still Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, and even Reagan all agreed to joint meetings, often in each other’s country, and made progress toward coexistence, and to avoid a direct confrontation that would benefit neither side.

So when the Republican candidates for President, conservative talk show hosts, and many others call for war on Iran, and think the idea of negotiations with Iran are fruitless, remember what Richard Nixon, the ultimate anti Communist did forty years ago this week. He went to the enemy and NEGOTIATED, and prevented any conflict with China, a dramatic and significant moment in world history!

It is time for Barack Obama to show courage and statesmanship, and since the Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said he is ready for diplomatic talks, it is wise to take him up on it, and see if it can go anywhere. If it does not, and war results, at least we will be able to hold our heads high and say we TRIED! Is Ahmadinejad really any worse than Mao Tse Tung, Nikita Khrushchev Leonid Brezhnev, or Mikhail Gorbachev?

It is not cowardly to agree to talk and negotiate; it is cowardly to refuse to talk and negotiate, with the possibility of avoiding war that neither the United States citizens or Iranian citizens really want. And it would be better for Israel too, if war could be avoided which would likely have a very heavy toll on their citizens, in a country so small in population, it cannot afford to lose even one hundred people in an unnecessary war that MIGHT be avoidable!

Jeremy Lin And Racial Stereotyping: The Ugly Tone Of Racism Against Asian Americans Renewed!

New York Knicks basketball player Jeremy Lin has become an overnight sensation, in just the past ten days, coming out of obscurity to lead the Knicks to seven straight victories. He is the sensation of the National Basketball Association!

Instead of rejoicing over the first basketball player of Asian heritage, specifically Chinese from the island of Taiwan, to become a big success story, instead of just “Lin Mania” occurring, we are also seeing the ugly tone of racial stereotyping rearing its head, including some African Americans ridiculing or rejecting his success. Hate mail and Facebook and Twitter expression of racism is showing how far we have to go, even in 2012, to overcome the ignorance and jealousy of many.

Asian Americans in the past have been victims of discrimination, racism, and stereotyping, with the infamous anti Chinese riots of the 1870s and 1880s and the internment of Japanese Americans in World War II just the best known examples, along with the banning of Chinese immigration from 1882-1943 and of Japanese immigration from 1924 to 1965.

It seems the more we see great accomplishments by an ethnic or racial group in this great country, there always has to be a backlash by people who themselves are often the victims of racism previously.

When will we finally accept people for their accomplishments and celebrate their ethnicity without jealousy or resentment by others of other racial and nationality groups? Obviously, it is a long time in the future, despite the education and progress that has been made from the great depths of darkness of the past!

Meanwhile, congratulations to Jeremy Lin, and all of us should be very proud of his accomplishments!

Mormon Vs. Mormon: The Real Battle For The Republican Presidential Nomination of 2012!

This morning, at Liberty State Park in New Jersey, at the foot of the Statue of Liberty, former Utah Governor and former Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman announced his candidacy for President, and made it clear he wanted to mount a high level campaign without personal attacks, but just arguing that he can do a better job than his former boss, President Barack Obama. He plans to focus on New Hampshire and Florida as the way to gain an early lead in the race against Mitt Romney, his major rival.

Huntsman begins his campaign with many assets: good looks, good speaker, nice family, outstanding record and popularity in Utah when he was Governor of the state, knowledgeable in Mandarin Chinese, great experience in foreign policy in Asia in his role as Ambassador to China and Singapore as well as being a missionary in Taiwan, business background in his billionaire father’s chemical business, and image of being a moderate in a field of extremely conservative opponents except for Mitt Romney, a fellow Mormon.

Huntsman’s negatives are that in a right wing party he is a moderate by comparison; is also seen as very much a clone of Mitt Romney, but with less public exposure; he is, like Romney, a Mormon; and he worked for President Obama, and now wants to criticize him in a gentlemanly manner after having raved about his leadership, and the fact that he worked for Obama is seen by many as a reason to reject him.

It seems to the author with Huntsman recently repudiating the Obama Health Care reform, the Economic Stimulus of 2009, stating his opposition to abortion, and asserting he supports the privatization of Medicare proposed by Congressman Paul Ryan, all points that upset the author and led to his statement a few weeks ago denouncing Huntsman’s changes of heart, that he has lost credibility.

And yet, Huntsman could very well bend on these statements, as all politicians do, and is still saying he believes in climate change and global warming, and supports civil unions for gays.

In other words, Huntsman is not preferable to Barack Obama, but among all Republican candidates, he offers the best hope for someone who will be, if elected, acceptable within the mainstream, but with a critical eye on his evolving views.

It is said that Barack Obama is most concerned about Huntsman, and it is clear that Mitt Romney is also very concerned about Huntsman.

Face the facts: Huntsman has the backing of “Establishment” Republicans led by the Bush family, and by implication, Senator John McCain, and Romney is seen as unacceptable to them.

So Huntsman has some major advantages, including in addition, being almost a generation younger then Romney (13 years) and being “newer” as compared to Romney who ran and lost the nomination in 2008, and gained the enmity of both John McCain and Mike Huckabee, his major rivals.

So, the contest may well be Mormon Vs. Mormon, unless the evangelical Christians are able to stop both dead in their tracks, to the detriment of the Republican Party!