Dean 2008, China, Pakistan, Russia, North Korea, Cuba And Nepal

Bill Clinton Had Icecream For Lunch
Jesse Jackson On Martin Luther King Boulevard
Soaking In Howard Dean
Dean Was In Town Yesterday

The Saudi Royal Family Has Got To Go
I Am Running For Dean 2008 Campaign Chair
Takes Two Arms And Two Legs To Swim
2008: Some Themes
2008: Some Thoughts
Dean 2008
Dean-Hillary-Obama Ticket
Democracy For Nepal, DFN
The Three Pillars

Recently Pyar Jung Thapa was in China, and the Chinese met up with him, and promised him an increased military cooperation. If that means more Nepali and Chinese army generals pay each other visits, organize tea parties for each other, that is fine. But if China were to get involved in providing lethal military supplies to the Nepal army, that would be like taking sides in Nepal's internal matters.

So far China has stayed neutral. I would have preferred they were actively on the side of the democrats, but it is fine if they just stay neutral. It is fine if China stays focused on economic issues, on issues of trade.

But taking sides will not be okay.

China can not afford to turn Nepal into a fault line between itself and America. The king of Nepal is not worth the trouble. China can not afford to pick up fights with three major trading blocs: the US, Europe and India. For what?

China the country and the Chinese Communist Party are not one and the same. The Chinese economy and the Chinese Communist Party are not one and the same. It is only a matter of time before the political monopoly of the Chinese Communist Party is brought to an end.

There is not going to be a hot war. There is going to be a war with communications technology.

As for "Taiwan, Tibet and human rights," Taiwan and China might become one after China becomes a democracy. West Germany did not become communist. It was the other way round. There is going to be democracy in China, and China is going to become a federal state, and Tibet is going to be one of the states, and the Tibetans are going to enjoy religious freedom. Human rights are not western or Asian, they are human, and universally applicable. The Chinese people are as human as anyone else on the planet.

The Chinese immigrants in the US are going to take the lead.

There can be a soft landing. The Chinese Communist Party could opt to become one of many parties. They might even stick around as the largest party post-democracy. If they can ditch Maoism for a market economy, they can ditch totalitarianism for a multi-party framework.

But all that is for later.

For now China is going to make sure it does not take sides in Nepal's internal matters.

China is not a democracy.

Pakistan is no democracy. Musharraf is a joke.

North Korea is not on this planet. Kim Jong Il is a total basket case.

Russia is a half-hearted attempt at a democracy.

Cuba is not one. Fidel will flee.

The king of Nepal and his international friends just might ignite the third, final wave of democracy. They really might be up to something.

How do you identify the autocrats? They hang out together. They hobnob. They see common ground. They seek solace with each other.