奥巴马要求中国像'成年人'那样行事

choi

(1) 奥巴马宣布APEC峰会闭幕. VOA Chinese, Nov 14, 2011
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/n ... oser-133805973.html
("他还遇 [sic] 到了关于最近国际原子能机构（IAEA）的报告提出证据表明伊朗努力秘密发展核武器的问题。奥巴马 * * * 说：'我们三国都对这个问题意见一致，就是确保伊朗没有核武器化，我们不在该地区引发核军备竞赛。这符合我们所有国家的利益'”)

(2) 奥巴马要求中国像“成年人”那样行事. VOA Chinese, Nov 14, 2011
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/n ... n-up-133836823.html
("华盛顿著名智库布鲁金斯学会约翰.桑顿中国中心研究主任李成博士在接受美国之音采访时也认为，奥巴马对中国的尖锐批评除了表明美国对中国越来越失去耐心，也是出于选举年的政治需要")

Note:
(a) The report states:

"美国总统奥巴马在与中国国家主席胡锦涛举行面对面会晤一天后，针对中国使用了迄今为止最为强硬的一些言辞，要求中国停止'玩弄'国际体系，而是要为美国以及其他国际企业创造一个公平的竞争场地。

"奥巴马在亚太经合组织峰会结束时举行的新闻发布会上谈到中国的人民币和贸易做法时很不客气地说，'该适可而止了！' 他对媒体表示：'我们将继续坚定地要求中国像其他国家一样按照同样的规则行事。我们不希望他们占美国的便宜。'

"他 [Obama] 说，中国的领导人需要 '理解他们现在所扮演的角色与20年或是30年前不一样了。那个时候，如果他们打破一些规则，那没有什么关系，不会有什么大的影响。现在他们长大成人了。他们将不得不以负责的方式帮助经营这个过程。'

(b) In Pres Obama's words:
(i) "玩弄" 国际体系: "game" the system
(ii) "我们将继续坚定地要求中国像其他国家一样按照同样的规则行事。我们不希望他们占美国的便宜"

"we’re going to continue to be firm in insisting that they operate by the same rules that everybody else operates under.  We don’t want them taking advantage of the United States or U.S. businesses."
(iii) "理解他们现在所扮演的角色与20年或是30年前不一样了。那个时候，如果他们打破一些规则，那没有什么关系，不会有什么大的影响。现在他们长大成人了。他们将不得不以负责的方式帮助经营这个过程。"

"that requires them [Chinese] to take responsibility, to understand that their role is different now than it might have been 20 years ago or 30 years ago, where if they were breaking some rules, it didn’t really matter, it did not have a significant impact.  You weren’t seeing huge trade imbalances that had consequences for the world financial system. Now they’ve grown up, and so they’re going to have to help manage this process in a responsible way.

(c) News Conference by President Obama. JW Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa, Kapolei, HI, Nov 14, 2011.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-pr ... nce-president-obama

(i) Pres Obama's comments are in reponse to two questioners whose names precedes the Q:
(A) David Nakamura, staff writer of Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/da ... 2/AByo4sM_page.html
(B) Julianna Goldman, a White House correspondent for Bloomberg Television, Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Businessweek
http://www.bloomberg.com/personalities/julianna_goldman/

(ii) The pertinent Q&A's.
(A)
"David Nakamura.

"Q    Thank you, Mr. President.  Yesterday in a speech before business leaders, you said that you want China to play by the rules.  And then your staff later said that, in a bilateral meeting with President Hu, that you expressed that American business leaders are growing frustrated with the pace of change in China's economy.  What rules is China not playing by?  What specific steps do you need to see from China?  And what punitive actions is your administration willing to take, as you said it would yesterday, if China does not play by the rules?

"PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, first of all, I also said yesterday that we welcome the peaceful rise of China.  It is in America's interests to see China succeed in lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.  China can be a source of stability and help to underwrite international norms and codes of conduct.

"And so what we've done over the last two years is to try to develop a frank, consistent, open relationship and dialogue with China, and it's yielded considerable benefits -- for example, support for issues like Iran.  But what I've also said to Chinese leadership since I came into office is that when it comes to their economic practices, there are a range of things that they have done that disadvantage not just the United States but a whole host of their trading partners and countries in the region.

"The most famous example is the issue of China's currency.  Most economists estimate that the RMB is devalued by 20 to 25 percent.  That means our exports to China are that much more expensive, and their imports into the United States are that much cheaper.  Now, there's been slight improvement over the last year, partly because of U.S. pressure, but it hasn’t been enough. And it's time for them to go ahead and move towards a market-based system for their currency.

"We recognize they may not be able to do it overnight, but they can do it much more quickly than they’ve done it so far.  And, by the way, that would not necessarily be a bad thing for the Chinese economy, because they’ve been so focused on export-driven growth that they’ve neglected domestic consumption, building up domestic markets.  It makes them much more vulnerable to shocks in the global economy.  It throws the whole world economy out of balance because they’re not buying as much as they could be from other countries.

"And this is not something that’s inconsistent with where Chinese leadership say they want to go.  The problem is, is that you’ve got a bunch of export producers in China who like the system as it is, and making changes are difficult for them politically.  I get it.  But the United States and other countries, I think understandably, feel that enough is enough.

"That’s not the only concern we have.  Intellectual property rights and protections -- companies that do business in China consistently report problems in terms of intellectual property not being protected.  Now, that’s particularly important for an advanced economy like ours, where that’s one of our competitive advantages, is we’ve got great engineers, great entrepreneurs, we’re designing extraordinary new products.  And if they get no protection and the next thing you know China is operating as a low-cost producer and not paying any fees or revenues to folks who invented these products, that’s a problem.

"So those are two examples, but there are a number of others. These practices aren’t secret.  I think everybody understands that they’ve been going on for quite some time.  Sometimes, American companies are wary about bringing them up because they don’t want to be punished in terms of their ability to do business in China.  But I don’t have that same concern, so I bring it up.

"And in terms of enforcement, the other thing that we’ve been doing is actually trying to enforce the trade laws that are in place.  We’ve brought a number of cases -- one that the U.S. press may be familiar with are the cases involving U.S. tires, where we brought very aggressive actions against China and won.  And as a consequence, U.S. producers are in a better position, and that means more U.S. jobs.

"So I think we can benefit from trade with China.  And I want certainly to continue cultivating a constructive relationship with the Chinese government, but we’re going to continue to be firm in insisting that they operate by the same rules that everybody else operates under.  We don’t want them taking advantage of the United States or U.S. businesses.


(B)
"Julianna Goldman.

"Q    Thank you, Mr. President.  In conversations that you’ve had over the past couple of days with Asia Pacific leaders, have any of them brought up the rhetoric that we’re seeing from Republican presidential candidates when it comes to China?  And does that kind of rhetoric or posturing jeopardize the progress that your administration has made with China and the Asia Pacific region as a whole?

"THE PRESIDENT:  I think most leaders here understand that politics is not always measured or on the level, and so most of our discussions have to do with substance:  How do we put our people back to work right now?  How do we expand trade?  How do we expand exports?

"I’ve been very frank with Chinese leaders, though, in saying that the American people across the board -- left, right and center -- believe in trade, believe in competition.  We think we’ve got the best workers in the world.  We think we’ve got the best universities, the best entrepreneurs, the best free market. We’re ready to go out there and compete with anybody.  But there is a concern across the political spectrum that the playing field is not level right now.

"And so, in conversations with President Hu and others, what I’ve tried to say is we have the opportunity to move in a direction in which this is a win-win:  China is benefiting from trade with the United States; the United States is benefiting as well.  Jobs are being created in the United States and not just in China.  But right now things are out of kilter.  And that is something that is shared across the board, as we saw with the recent vote on the Chinese currency issue in the Senate.

"And I think leaders in the region understand that as China grows, as its economic influence expands, that the expectation is, is that they will be a responsible leader in the world economy -- which is what the United States has tried to do.  I mean, we try to set up rules that are universal, that everybody can follow, and then we play by those rules.  And then we compete fiercely.  But we don’t try to game the system.  That’s part of what leadership is about.

"China has the opportunity to be that same type of leader.  And as the world’s second-largest economy, I think that’s going to be important not just for this region, but for the world.  But that requires them to take responsibility, to understand that their role is different now than it might have been 20 years ago or 30 years ago, where if they were breaking some rules, it didn’t really matter, it did not have a significant impact.  You weren’t seeing huge trade imbalances that had consequences for the world financial system.

"Now they’ve grown up, and so they’re going to have to help manage this process in a responsible way.