Word: standoff
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Relations between China and the U.S. have been uncomfortably strained in the past few months, due in large part to the hard-line tactics of the Bush administration. Given the continuing standoff over a downed spy plane and Bush’s characterization of China as a “strategic competitor,” tensions between the two powers have escalated. But one particularly divisive measure—perhaps the most important in Sino-U.S. relations—is a proposed sale of submarines and the Aegis radar system to Taiwan. In this particularly tense time, the arms...
...Bush: The big winner Domestically and internationally, the new president has arrived as a statesman. Despite a day or two of uncertainty, his administration quickly got its ducks in a row, avoiding any signs of appeasement while at the same time doing everything necessary to prevent a potentially volatile standoff from escalating into a crisis. He muzzled the hawks, withdrew U.S. vessels from the area and calmed American emotions to give diplomacy its best chance. Whether he helped or not, Dad ought to be proud...
...Capitol Hill: Well-behaved hometown crowd The standoff presented U.S. legislators with probably their toughest challenge - keeping quiet and letting the White House sort it out. And for the most part, they managed to remain calm and dignified despite 24-hour news television's hunger for threats and ultimatums. Lucky for everyone, though, that the issue was resolved before they returned from recess...
...Jiang will probably earn mixed reviews at home and abroad. From Washington's point of view, once the U.S. had gone as far as it could, the Chinese president moved decisively to resolve a situation that could have been catastrophic for both sides. But China's handling of the standoff also served as a reminder of the complexity of Beijing's power structure and the limits of Jiang's authority. At home, the government-controlled media are spinning the outcome as a victory for China, but it's not yet clear whether the military and other hard-liners...
...depends on what you mean by "sorry." Or more correctly, what exactly you're sorry for. Diplomatic copywriters continued their frenzied search Monday for a mutually acceptable language that would allow China and the U.S. to resolve the standoff over the downed U.S. spy plane at Hainan. The domestic political pressures on both sides were visible over the weekend as China appeared unyielding in its demand for a U.S. apology as the precondition for handing back the 24 detained U.S. personnel and their plane, while Bush administration officials reiterated that there would be no apology and warned that prolonging...