U.S.-China Relations
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Kudos to Jim Mann for his revealing expose of the way past American leaders, from Kissinger to Carter, have been manipulated by their Peking counterparts (June 13).
The Chinese, of course, long ago mastered the art of barbarian management. “Do not entertain their requests,” Qing Emperor Xianfeng instructed his officials in the last century. “If you take special pains to control them rigidly and check them courteously, how far will these barbarians’ cunning get them?”
The answer to Emperor Xianfeng’s question--to judge from the recent state of Chinese-American relations--seems to be “Not far.”
STEVEN W. MOSHER
Director, Asian Studies
Claremont Institute
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