Obama's foreign failings put U.S. at greater risk - I

Fewer, however, have probably realized the Obama administration's foreign and national security policies are flagging after a year in the White House, too, putting the United States (U.S.) at increasing risk in an already dangerous world.

Yes, that's right: All that Obama hopey-changey, blame-America-first, anything-but-George W. Bush stuff hasn't restored, much less advanced, America's position in the world as was promised.

Unfortunately, the White House's brand of “biography-based” foreign policy just isn't cutting it so far on the big national security issues of the day such as China, North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, Russia and Venezuela.

In fact, it's quite the opposite: weak-kneed, apologetic “Obama-plomacy” is already being exploited across the globe. The U.S.'image, standing and reputation are suffering with partners who worry about the nation going wobbly despite Obama's rhetorical flourishes.

And nowhere was this more recently noticeable than on his stop in China, which found even the loyal Left and media carping.

China Challenge

If you were troubled by President Obama's so-called “Wow Bow” to Emperor Akihito in Japan, you won't be any happier with the “kowtow” during his November trip to the People's Republic of China (PRC).

In the latest chapter of Team Obama's teetering-on-the-disastrous foreign policy, the president and a slew of his Cabinet secretaries roared into Asia like lions, promising a new era in U.S. diplomacy in the region.

But they left like pussycats — accomplishing, well, a whole lot of nothing. So much for our “first Pacific president,” as Obama anointed himself at the start of the eight-day, four-country swing through Asia.

The lack of good news was starkest in China, where the U.S. faces a raft of critical issues that needed addressing at the presidential level to get matters moved off dead-center. Sure, the joint statement that concluded the visit had a long list of areas of Sino-U.S. cooperation such as Chinese aircraft safety, public health, climate change and bumping up the number of Americans studying in the PRC. And the president, to his credit, did raise human rights issues, Tibet and freedom of expression — although somewhat sheepishly.

But a presidential visit should deliver more than that.

Obama failed to make progress on the most important issue to the U.S. right now — the economy. The U.S. is experiencing a US$200-plus billion-a-year trade deficit with China, but no measure came out of the visit to ease that pain.

We could've seen an agreement to help level the playing field for U.S. firms doing business in China by reducing the subsidies local firms receive from the central government, undermining foreign competitiveness.

Or how about the woefully undervalued Chinese currency known as the “yuan?” Beijing “pegs” the yuan's conversion rate against the dollar, instead of allowing it to float with the market. This makes Chinese goods cheaper in the U.S. and American goods more expensive there, hurting U.S. exports. This inequity adds to the bulging trade deficit, allowing China to become the largest holder of U.S. debt — adding to a series of imbalances that could be harmful to both countries in the long run.

On security, there was also a worrying lack of movement. China is involved in a serious military buildup — and U.S. planners are often flummoxed about the intent of it. They — not to mention America's allies and friends such as Japan, Korea and India — are especially troubled when it comes to “power projection” capabilities, such as the PRC's improving missile, naval and air forces. Chinese aircraft carriers are in our future.

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