MM Lee: Chinese officials getting more pushier and tougher to deal with

MM Lee wrote:

"The increase in tensions between the two nations caused an American leader close to the White House to ask me why China's posture has changed. I could not explain why. So when I met the Chinese state councillor in January, I showed him the FT photo. The state councillor responded that it was a misunderstanding.

I then added that foreign officials, including Singapore's, in negotiating with Chinese officials on joint statements have found them to be pushier and tougher to deal with. The state councillor responded in succinct Chinese, "When we are not strong we should not be proud, and when we are strong we will still not be proud." I agreed and complimented him on his speech in Jakarta in which he had pointed out that China's per capita GDP was modest, ranking 104th in the world."

Read Lee KY's latest contribution to Forbes magazine column here:

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0412/opinions-lee-kuan-yew-china-united-states-current-events.html

Strange, the lifeforce of the octogenarian seems to be stronger than that of the son who is 2 yrs short of 60 ! Shouldn't it be the other way round ?

Simple reason - it is not that Chinese are pushy, it is just that US is not used to being able to push a country around.

If you look at the global economic powers - Japan, Germany, Korea - these 3 countries have huge US military bases which means lots of US influence. The Japanese even published a book Japan that can say No. For the past 50 years these 3 countries pretty much listened to what the US wants. And it is not just the US troops but also their economies. These countries have small domestic consumption but huge exports to US.

Now comes China - There are no US troops in China. China's economy is tightly entwined with the US such that neither side can use that as a threat. As it is, the Chinese are expecting to report trade deficit as domestic consumption rises. It has huge domestic consumption potential. Politically, the Chinese have a lot of political influence in their region. Afghanistan, North Korea, Pakistan (top US interests) all share a common border with China.

Why should the Chinese be lap dogs like the German, Japanese and Koreans?

US not used to the changes so they think Chinese are getting pushier lah.