Herr Bush's speech on China

Every then and now, Herr Bush surprises us. His speech in Thailand taking Beijing to task for not respecting human rights makes one sit up. It is a far cry from his standard, awful, dreadful stump speech that he made in Seoul waving an arthritic finger at North Korea, which when the dust settles is more more bluster than bite. Herr Bush's China speech is more subtle, more attune to Asian sensibilities about face, yet it says what it has to say with a firmness that startles. [Bush's speech writers hit pay dirt here!] Although China occupies Herr Bush's thoughts, his thrust is wider and aimed at the countries in southeast and east Asia. Herr Bush speaks of universal values and with one fell swoop, he lops off the roots of Asian exceptionalism which Singapore's minister mentor and grand pooh bah Lee Kwang Yew has been peddling like snake oil for years now. Herr Bush has put the matter squarely before the peoples of Asia, and speaks the words other have only voiced at their own peril. Herr Bush has put the capitals of southeast and east Asia on notice, and despite efforts of say Beijing to jam internet access or clamp down on the media, his words are like the old German song from the 30 years war: 'die Gedanken sind frei'...thoughts are free, no hunter can shot them, no prison walls can hold them. And so, surprise, although he didn't boycott the Summer Olympic games in Beijing, he rang a knell on authoritarian governments from Djakarta to Beijing, Yangoon to Pyongyang.