The Hainan Hilton

It wasn’t all that long ago that ex-President Clinton (gee, that has a great ring to it) told his constituents with a straight face that American children could sleep well that night, knowing that not one Russian Intercontinental Ballistic Missile was aimed at the United States.

Quite apart from the notion that the "Slickster" was probably lying through his teeth again, he quite noticeably, and probably for good reason, eliminated a significant factor in the nuclear power equation…the People’s Republic of China.

Such temporary amnesia is totally understandable, considering the largely unprobed, open secret (pun intended) of Clinton’s guided missile duplicity.

Some might prefer the word, "treason."

Anyone who could ante up a political contribution to Bill Clinton or the Democratic Party was allowed to trample on export controls that kept the latest and greatest US breakthroughs out of the hands of the Red Chinese.

American technology allegedly intended to launch Chinese communications satellites into space was redirected into Beijing’s long-range nuclear missile program.

Then, we started hearing reports of a massive Chinese military build-up in the provinces across the straits from the island of Taiwan. Naturally, US surveillance aircraft showed up on station to monitor the situation and take electronic notes.

This was clearly not to the liking of the Chinese Air Force.

As a result, we have the first major international crisis of the Bush presidency. 24 U.S. Navy personnel under lock and key in the Hainan Hilton, their EP-3 spy plane in pieces, for more reasons than one, being mapped in a way that would make either Rand or McNally proud.

We refuse to apologize because we claim our plane was in international airspace when it collided with their recently deceased top gun. They refuse to release our aircrew without an apology.

None of this is headline material.

But we have received word that the Bush administration appears to have blinked, ordering at least a temporary halt to further recon flights along the Chinese coast.

What lessons can be learned from this latest run-in with the international criminals in the Red Palace?

Number one…stuffing a few dollars into someone’s pocket does not automatically make that person your friend. We’ve spent 30 years laboring under the misconception that opening China to western trade would be like firing a silver bullet straight into the heart of the communist beast.

Not so.

They took our silver and made a lot more bullets for their own People’s Liberation Army. Those bullets are aimed right back at our heads.

Number two…weakness is perceived as a moral and not merely a military shortcoming. When you are willing to bow to an aggressor, you submit yourself to slavery. Why have the lessons of the Cold War with Russia not been applied to China?

Number three…today’s friend can quickly become tomorrow’s foe. Throughout the decades when American dollars were fueling the Chinese economic miracle, those quisling importers who got rich quick off the sweat of a slave laborer’s brow conveniently neglected the issues of reunification, human rights and the like.

We kept the island nation of Taiwan in the diplomatic closet, locked away like Cinderella, for fear she might outshine her ugly stepsister.

During the past decade, our CIA policy wonks have shown true Disney-esque intelligence analysis. They issued "happily ever after" reports to the President over Chinese intentions while the US military fumed. We arranged military exchanges and ordered our elite fighting forces to train the men who might one day kill them.

We gave away the Panama Canal to the Chinese for good measure. Now, there are reports from US Border Patrol officers that Chinese troops dressed in Mexican army uniforms have taken potshots at them across the border.

I, for one, am glad that I don’t have to make hard decisions like what to do next about China. It honestly amazes me that anyone would want that heavy responsibility. If I were in charge, I would be inclined to put on my game face and get tough with the commie so and so’s.

I’d threaten to send them Bill Clinton.