What's at Stake

Drawn in Adobe Photoshop CS3 using a Wacom Cintiq 12WX.
Reprints can be found here.

It's been a while, no? Being the managing editor/perennial slave driver is a far cry from the carefree days of the ink-stained fool. Instead of drawing pretty pictures and being on decent terms with everyone else, I spend most of my time cultivating and then marinating in a noxious, seething concoction of frustration and misanthropy, revealing said odium when circumstance occasions it, which tends to be quite often. To put it concisely, every production night is a living affirmation of Satre's estimation of other people.

But I digress: This is the first editorial cartoon since last April, and the world has changed a lot in the intervening time. The recession has eroded (but hardly effaced) America's relative standing and credibility, much to Beijing's benefit. Hushed voices are broaching the possibility that a "Beijing consensus" on economic development will soon supplant the neoliberal model that has obtained for the last two decades. Whether this will actually happen is another question altogether, though it's hardly impossible.

Regardless, I think it's a shame that the PRC has exploited its newfound gains so crudely. Its prosecution of the Copahagen climate accords, the Google fiasco, and recent disagreements over imposing sanctions against Iran have done nothing good for its perception here in the U.S. That said, I also doubt that this current episode of escalation will last long. If you must know, I speculate that much of the hoopla surrounding Sino-U.S. relations is precisely that: A lot of sound and fury over what more observant individuals have long since noted as pro forma rhetorical salvos.

Still, this isn't to say that China's rise will be without complication. Its steady climb will inevitably force a drastic revision of its heretofore rather Westphalian foreign policy. Until that happens, I guess we'll have no choice but to live in interesting times.

BONUS: I've taken the liberty of including an animated .gif of how I make my worthless scribbles. Gaze upon it, and be amazed! (note: You'll have to click on it to view it in its full, resplendent glory.)

Political Games

You know, there's this idea called "self-determination," which apparently neither the authorities nor the self-styled standard bearers of liberal claptrap understand. Quite frankly, I identify with the rather vexed fan.

Occidental Wisdom

It behooves us to recall that the U.S. & co. are still the world's largest polluters per capita. That said, the West cannot very well enjoin developing nations to abandon the high-consumption, high-pollution lifestyle it advocates unless it does so first.

Spark of Chaos

Please direct all reprint requests here

This is just plain inexcusable; I'm glad that the constables promptly pacified (read: tackled) the bloody libtard who tried to put out the flame with a fire extinguisher. The puerility and intellectual incoherency of the political left can be truly disheartening at times.

Middle Way

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Dear Pro-Tibet Libtards & Speaker Pelosi,

Sorry to disappoint you, but the Dalai Lama does not endorse an independent Tibet. Nor is he an exponent of violence. Speaking of which, I stand by the Chinese government's resolute response to the recent spate of vile ethnic violence and odious vandalism. Let it be known that I also subscribe to the Dalai Lama's program of limited autonomy, and am no fan of baseless oppression. At any rate, I'd really appreciate it if you'd refrain from abandoning reason and circumspection in favor of inchoate, knee-jerk emotional outrage the next time you decide to embark on an anti-China tirade.

Sincerely,

T^2

Post-Script,

FREE VERMONT!

On a more serious note, here are some of my conclusions:

1. The Dalai Lama's is more impotent than anyone would like to admit
2. There is an internal schism between younger separatists and older conciliators; the latter will likely acquiesce to the former in order to preserve an outward semblance of unity
3. Race/ethnicity will be the basis of this new separatist movement
4. Violence will no doubt benefit such a movement by reinforcing ethnic/racial dichotomies, but will invariably fail due to the state's material superiority

Them Damned Words

"[Gasp!], a cartoon-less entry?! What is this knavery? I demand satisfaction, posthaste!"

Granted that the blog description did not explicitly mention that there'd be non-visual entries, it certainly didn't proscribe them (you can expect a cartoon on the CIA torture tape scandal either later today or early tomorrow morning). Anyhow, the following was written in response to a question I received regarding Taiwan and Tibet:

In response to your inquiry:

A more salient question, I think, would be about the PRC’s policy toward Hong Kong, since its prosecution of the reunification of the said former colony constitutes a critical precedent for future interactions with the two regions of record, Taiwan in particular.

That said, I approve the general framework hitherto espoused—that is, the “one country, two systems” policy—though I think that a federal system that affords comparatively less provincial autonomy is the ultimate tenable long-term solution.

With regard to Taiwan in the short-term, promises of limited post-reunification autonomy must be accompanied by a concomitant unilateral reduction in ballistic missiles and armed personnel currently stationed across the Strait of Formosa. Contrary to popular assumptions, this probably will not lead to a Taiwan or U.S.-led invasion of the mainland, principally on account of the prohibitive costs thereof and the linked nature of the two militaries. Regardless, allaying immediate Taiwanese apprehensions concerning security and short-term post-reunification political freedoms will be key elements of any short-term strategy for reintegration.

In the meantime, it’ll be incumbent on the PRC to pursue strategies that will (1) create a payoff structure encouraging future cooperation, (2) form definite institutional forums for protracted interaction, and (3) generate path dependencies to deter potential defection—commercial institutions will likely be most conducive to this end, followed by security agreements and, eventually, infrastructural standardization and political integration via federalism. This will also form the political economy of long-term integration.

As for the Dalai Lama, I believe that he should be allowed back into China, albeit under the condition and understanding that he remains a strictly religious figure with no real powers. Actual provincial policymaking should be the preserve of secular elected regional officials accountable to the people (regardless of ethnicity and religious conviction), with execution the charge of local rational bureaucracies financed by the central national government and local taxes.

In sum, limited regional autonomy is the optimal solution for all three regions, though federalism should be the PRC’s long-term objective.

Roughin' It: Irony in a Time of Genocide

In what could only be described as a textbook example of irony, China has dispatched a contingent of blue-beret engineers to resolve the fine mess that it had helped to create in Darfur. Unsurprisingly, this move was not well received, though I still regard it as a welcome departure from the People's Republic's usual intransigence in such matters, more cynical suspicions notwithstanding.