The Washington Post just announced free vaccines from U.S.A. will soon be donated to countries around the world to curb the Covid 19 virus. This is brilliant diplomacy from the Biden Administration. Here’s why this is a complete departure from over sixty years of American foreign policy. Which has focused on transforming the governments and citizens of countries world wide into spitting images of Americana. The U.S. has spent trillions of dollars on counterproductive wars. Just as Franklin D Roosevelt proclaimed the U.S. as the Arsenal of Democracy in World War II, Biden has brilliantly proclaimed the U.S. as the Arsenal of Vaccines (and you can be sure he had China in mind when he said it).
Three factors need to be considered if we are to compare our diplomatic policies of the past to a totally new one that centers on Free Vaccines from U.S.A. to bolster the U.S. position in the world: Militarily, economically and politically. They are, 1. Why have our past policies failed so dismally? 2. Who is the main threat to the U.S.? and 3. How do free vaccines from U.S.A. tip the balance of power to favor the U.S. over our main adversary?
Our Foreign Wars to make the world safe for American democratic ideals have achieved the opposite effect its proponents envisioned.
Starting with Vietnam and ending with Afghanistan, our wars in both places have ended with the U.S. dragging its tails in ignominious defeat. In both countries the U.S. has backed corrupt governments that did not deserve the backing of their citizens. In the end, the corrupt politicians and top military leaders in both nations were not worth dying for. While arrogance of American political and military leaders and from the general U.S. public never considered one universal truism that has existed ever since mankind started using clubs to beat down their enemies. Which is throughout the world people resent foreign invaders telling them how to run their countries.
For the past 60 years the U.S.A. has used its huge military might to bomb its opponents into submission. The problem with that is we have killed countless innocent people including women and children in the process.
One cannot hope to win the hearts and minds of people in distant lands when you kill their families, friends and neighbors.
The U.S. experiment to make Vietnamese into loyal U.S.A. followers has cost over 60000 American lives and two million Vietnamese. Not to mention trillions of dollars and the diminishment of American prestige world wide. While Afghanistan has resulted in similar results.
The main threat to both U.S. and worldwide security and ways of life is China
Forget about Russia. Russian militarism is confined to those areas that used to be part of the Soviet bloc. Countries which Russia considers to be part of the old regime under the tsars. Regaining what was once part of Russia has much to do with gaining respect from the rest of the world.
While China plans to dominate the entire world, starting with Taiwan. Which it considers belongs to China. Then the entire Yellow Sea area. And ultimately continuing as far away as the United States. It is quite possible and perhaps even likely that China will deal with Taiwan militarily. While it dominates other countries in Asia economically. Just one example is the Chinese building a high speed railway linking Bangkok, and other large Thai cities to the Chinese Motherland. The final step in the Chinese plan for world domination is to control the entire internet. So that it can control the whereabouts, activity, and thinking of “EVERYONE”.
Free vaccines from U.S.A can put worldwide opinion of China totally into the doghouse.
I am chairman of my condominium’s governing committee here in Pattaya Thailand. This committee decides who we buy our equipment and parts from. We have a swimming pool just outside our condo’s main building. It’s a state of the art salt water pool and it has its own waterfall. Just beneath this waterfall is an outdoor jacuzzi. We have three water pumps recirculating the water in our pool and running the waterfall and jacuzzi. All three water pumps are American made Hayworth pumps.
While above our condo we have two additional water pumps that circulate water throughout our building. Both pumps are made in Australia.
Wongamat Residence absolutely refuses to buy any Chinese made pumps.
While paying twice as much for American or Australian made water pumps. Because 1. We have found that Chinese water pumps won’t last more than six months, 2. Their made in China warranties are worthless, and 3. Available parts in our city are of international standard (even though this is Thailand) and Chinese water pumps use components that do not comply a world wide standard.
Although the Chinese have flooded Thailand with its cheap consumer products, most products sold her that are made in China are viewed as cheap and shoddy. Although a lot of stuff made in China is well made, for the most part “made in China” is viewed here even by the Thais as third rate products that only the poor should be buying.
Free vaccines from U.S.A will clearly illustrate to the entire world that China stands for third class cheap and shoddy while American products and the American way of doing things stands for first class.
So far Thailand has vaccinated only 30 percent of its people. But keep in mind that the Chinese Thais comprising 20 percent of the population rule Thailand. So it is not surprising that the ruling class takes very good care of their brothers and sisters in China. This explains why Thailand has concentrated on acquiring Chinese virus vaccines so that all the Chinese brothers and sisters can profit hugely from their sales. So far the majority of vaccine distributed here is Sinovac.
But I can assure you that most Thais I know view Sinovac the same way I evaluate Chinese made water pumps. I don’t know if this is true or not. Most Thais tell me that Sinovac is only 40 percent effective on the original virus the Chinese imported into Thailand. The same Thais tell me it’s worthless against the much more transmittable Delta Virus variant. But the Thais I’m dealing with are not members of the ruling class.
Suddenly a hero comes riding into Thailand on his white horse. The hero, however, is not human. It’s the free vaccines from U.S.A. that’s coming to the rescue riding the white horse.
The Pfizer vaccine represents the gold standard of quality effective anti virus vaccines that have minimal side effects. And here’s the U.S.A. promising the entire world that it will soon be giving away hundreds of millions of free doses of Phizer to countries that can least afford it.
Now picture yourself as your typical Thai who has problems making ends meet on the minimal income he gets to support his family.
The virus has transformed Pattaya into a ghost town that’s now a mere shadow of itself. The tourism sector has been nearly totally shut down. Most hotels have been forced to shut down because of the lack of customers. All bars have been closed down for the past 5 months. And until just a week ago all restaurants can sell food only on a carryout basis. You can’t pay your bills anymore. You used to work at a restaurant that’s now closed. Or a hotel that might never reopen again. You are an ex bar girl. A taxi driver who can’t make ends meet because there are no tourists. A shop owner who no longer has any customers.
Not long ago your city’s streets have been cluttered up with large tour buses carrying their Chinese customers. The tour buses reducing the traffic flow to a snail’s pace.
If you were a restaurant owner, chances are these hordes of Chinese tourists weren’t coming to your restaurant. Because it is far more likely they were going to temporary buildings out up to accommodate the Chinese masses. Whose real owners were likely to be Chinese. Who were giving kickbacks to the Chinese tour bus leaders bringing the unwashed into all those counterfeit restaurants.
A Thai female bar owner once told me about a Chinese man who came into her bar by himself. When she asked him if he wanted a beer, the man replied: “I have to wait for our tour leader to come.” Then 20 Chinese come in following their fearless leader. The tour leader asks the bar owner. “I will get my group to buy a lot of beers if you offer them a special price of 140 baht. And then we will split the excess profits. The bar owner laughed as she continues her story. The punchline is she was selling beer at just 90 baht. And that thanks to their fearless tour group leader, each Chinese would be overcharged 50 baht.
Most Thais view most Chinese as dirty, loud mouthed, rude imbeciles
I have personally seen Chinese men urinating in a parking lot just a few feet from a group of bar girls snickering at the man’s lack of decency. I have also watched nicely dressed Chinese women spitting into trash cans right in front of a 7.11. They come into the Centara five star hotel’s fitness center speaking in loud obnoxious voices. When I’m walking or jobbing for exercise and encounter Chinese. Even if they are in a large group. They won’t step aside. They won’t bulge one inch, expecting the person in front of them to docilely go around their group.
I don’t hate Chinese. Some of them are A okay with me as individuals. But Chinese tourists are regarded worldwide as being very rude. And although the Chinese Thai upper class might love the Chinese as a cash cow. The majority of the Thai people view them with disdain. Now that the Biden administration has announced it will be no longer focusing on the Middle East. Now that the U.S. has finally withdrawn from Afghanistan our nation’s longest war. The U.S. administration is announcing it will be directing its energy and resources on Asia. And our real adversaries, notably China.
Providing Free vaccines from U.S.A. in the hundreds of millions to countries such as Thailand is the soundest diplomacy I’ve seen yet from the U.S.
While China might be financing low interest loans for roads and high speed trains to developing countries, this could very well be America’s Trump card (no pun intended). The free vaccines from U.S.A. represent the absolutely pinnacle of American technical superiority. While China’s Sinovac anti-viral vaccine continues to justify a worldwide opinion of “made in China” as being the essence of shoddiness. Although it is doubtful the U.S. will ever build a high speed train. If it did, and you are Thai, would you rather buy the American or the Chinese brand?
This post re Free vaccines from U.S.A. is must reading for the History Buff. Note Biden’s reference to the U.S. being the Arsenal of Vaccines. It is no accident that FDR called the U.S. the Arsenal of Democracy during World War II.
Related posts about Chinese tourists you might be interested in reading here in the Fun House.
Thailand’s Worse Tourists are Chinese
Dirty Chinese Tourists at Thailand’s Five Star Hotel Spa
One Good Sex Tourist is Worth over One-Hundred Chinese Tourists