Bush's UK visit fails to meet his wishes: Commentary

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, November 24, 2003

Bush's UK visit fails to meet his wishes: Commentary

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US President George W. Bush's recent 4-day visit to the United Kingdom was the first state visit by a US president to Britain in the past decades. So its importance to the United States is self-evident.

The war launched by the United States and Britain against Iraq in March this year has led to the reorganization of the international pattern, US-Europe and US-Russia contradictions have stood out; demonstrations against war and against military occupation of Iraq have broken out in many countries including the United States; the security situation confronting the US-UK coalition forces in Iraq is rather grim, the number of casualties is on the increase. The United States is forced to adjust its policies, deciding to turn over power to Iraq ahead of schedule. Against such a background, Bush's trip to Britain is designed to seek support from its allies for the American new plan and to repair its relations with countries across the Atlantic Ocean.

However, Bush's UK visit fails to meet his wishes. Accompany him on his way to the United Kingdom, Secretary of State Colin Powell first went to Brussels, taking this opportunity to pay a "blitz" visit to the Headquarters of the European Union (EU). During which time, he had talks with foreign ministers of the current 15 EU members and of 10 quasi-members. Although both sides emphasized that there was "harmony" between Europe and the United States, they could hardly cover up their differences over such major international issues as the reconstruction of Iraq. In the opinion of French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, US transfer of political power to Iraq "should be quicker", Germany again reiterated that it would not dispatch troops to Iraq. In addition, the United States and Europe are also divided on the Iranian nuclear issue. Evidently the United States failed to achieve its aim in its effort to win support from its principal European allies.

Bush's UK visit is also very difficult. Talks between Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bush are the major part of the visit. Except that they reaffirmed pledge to fight terrorism "shoulder to shoulder" and to participate in Iraqi reconstruction, there is no substantive new thing. Large-scale protest demonstrations and criticisms by public opinion became the new landscape of Bush's tour, for this, many British people said that Bush did not come at the right time. What made the Americans feel embarrassed was the criticism by Mayor of London Ken Livingstone without consideration of US feelings, he denounced Bush by name as the most dangerous figure in the world. He also ridiculed that the huge expenses with which the British government maintained Bush's UK visit should be paid by the National Committee of the US Republican Party. This time, the work of security defense done by the British government for Bush's visit set an all time high in British history whether in terms of scale or expenses.

There are many reasons why Bush's UK visit fails to attain his aim as desired, the most important one is that after the conclusion of the Cold War, the United States became the sole superpower in the world, it simply turns blind eyes to others, its unilateralism expands. The United States launched war against Iraq without UN authorization, it shows no respect for the opinions of its main allies on such major international issues as Iraqi reconstruction, US persistence in its own ways has incurred public anger. A poll recently released by the Commission of the EU shows 68 percent of EU citizens hold that the United States lacked adequate reasons in starting the Iraq war and 53 percent of people are of the opinion that the United States constitutes a threat to world peace. The second reason is the United States emphasizes counter-terrorism, it asks its allies to contribute human and financial resources, but it pays no heed to the matters about which the latter are concerned. With regard to Iraq's reconstruction projects, the United States holds them tightly in its hands, the main contracts signed in the first invitation of bids were given to its own companies and was unwilling to the give others even crumbs from the table; as regards disputes over iron and steel trade, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has made a ruling that US levy of high tariff is a breach of regulations, British industrial and commercial circles once expressed the hope that Bush would make concession during his present tour, but in the end Bush did not explicitly expressed his attitude. The third reason is the United States regards its concept of value as the highest norm and imposes it on other countries, the US persistence in conducting democratic transformation of the Middle East countries has encountered reproaches, some allies demand the United States to respect the cultures and characteristics of the Islamic countries, saying that one of the reasons why US troops are bogged down in quagmire in Iraq is the bitter fruit

However, Bush would not mend his own ways because of widespread criticism and opposition, during his visit he once again defended his Iraq policy, emphasizing that the US-UK coalition forces would continue to cope with violent events within the territory of Iraq by force. Since Bush's UK visit fails to meet his wishes, then, the situation in Iraq will not necessarily develop in the direction as the White House wishes.

This commentary appeared on Page 3 of People's Daily on November 24 was written by Wu Yingchun and translated by a staff member of PD Online.

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