Obama’s ‘Free Rider’ Comment Draws Chinese Criticism
By BREE FENG

China employed state media on Wednesday to convey its displeasure at President Obama’s recent remark that China is a global “free rider.”

Toward the end of an hour-long interview last Friday with the New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, spanning domestic and foreign affairs, Mr. Obama turned a critical eye to China, which many Americans, rightly or wrongly, believe is catching up or even surpassing the United States in some areas.

Asked by Mr. Friedman if he wanted to tell China to become “a stakeholder in this system and not a free rider,” the president bluntly said he had already conveyed that message to Beijing.

“They are free riders. And they have been free riders for the last 30 years and it’s worked really well for them,” Mr. Obama said. “And I’ve joked sometimes, when my inbox starts stacking up. I said can’t we be a little bit more like China? Nobody ever seems to expect them to do anything when this stuff comes up.”

The president was referring to the current crisis in Iraq, where fighting between Iraqi government forces and Sunni militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria continues against the backdrop of political infighting and an unfolding humanitarian crisis.

China has kept a low profile, in line with its traditional policy of noninterference. But now Mr. Obama has publicly added his voice to those questioning whether the world’s second-largest economy could be doing more on the world stage.

Chinese state-owned companies have made significant investments in Iraq, in the energy sector in particular, since the ebbing of the United States-led Iraq war. China National Petroleum Corporation, the state-owned energy giant, has become the leading foreign investor in the energy sector, unveiling a new export pipeline this week, and China buys much of Iraq’s crude output.

Because many of Iraq’s major oil fields are in the country’s Shiite-controlled south, they have been largely shielded from the fighting so far.

Mr. Obama’s remarks did not elicit an immediate official response from China, but an editorial published on Wednesday in People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party, made clear that the president’s comments were not welcome.

“Clearly the United States, which keeps erring on the Iraqi issue, has become even more chaotic in its logic while dealing with escalated threat of extremism there,” the editorial said. It was signed Zhong Sheng, a pen name that analysts say is often used to communicate the government’s views on international issues.

The editorial criticized the United States for “brazenly launching a war to topple the Iraqi government” in 2003, a move China opposed, and causing the country to descend into “chaos” for years to follow. China, on the other hand, has played a peaceful and cooperative role in the country, the article said, citing the humanitarian assistance it has provided over the years.

The paper’s overseas edition also carried a commentary on Wednesday that called the president’s comments “at the very least one-sided and unfair.” Going beyond the current crisis in Iraq, the commentary also countered that it was the United States that was behaving “like a free rider” with its so-called “pivot to Asia” after what the commentary said were years of Chinese diplomatic initiatives promoting friendly relations and trade with its Asian neighbors.

While these articles emphasized China’s reconstruction efforts in Iraq, the People’s Daily website carried a commentary on Wednesday by Zhang Yaowu, associate researcher with the Chinese Association for International Understanding, which did not shy from mentioning China’s commercial stakes in the country.

“China makes substantial profits from the petroleum trade” with Iraq, having sent more than 100 companies there and employing “millions,” Mr. Zhang wrote. “There is nothing wrong with any of this,” and other countries can still participate, he added.

陸媒：美留爛攤 靠中共收拾

大陸黨報人民日報及其海外版昨天分別發表文章，駁斥美國總統歐巴馬日前有關中共「搭便車」的言論，文章指美國應慢慢學會尊重並適應中國的發展。

中通社報導，人民日報及其海外版文章稱，日前美國總統歐巴馬在接受紐約時報專訪時，從伊拉克問題說起，指中共「搭便車」，聲稱卅年來中國在國際事務上，一直「搭便車」。這應是美國總統首次直言中共在國際事務中是一「搭便車者」。在西方涉華輿論中具代表性。但此種言論偏離事實，至少是片面的，不公正的。

這篇文章說，回望過去卅年的中共與世界，對於中共來說，這不叫「搭便車」，更應該叫「抓住戰略機遇」。

這幾天，中國正熱播電視劇「歷史轉折中的鄧小平」，講的是一九七六年至一九八四年中國發生的歷史性轉折。

在這一過程中，鄧小平率先提出時代的主題已從「戰爭與革命」的時代過渡到「和平與發展」的時代，從此中共走上改革開放的快車道，闖出具有中國特色的發展道路。

這是中共自己的戰略抉擇，並為此付出艱苦努力，也取得非凡成就，這不是什麼「搭便車」的結果。

文章更指，在冷戰後的世界，美國憑藉超強實力，制定國際規則，處理地區衝突，在國際事務中的作用飽受爭議，也非一無是處，但其對外政策和戰略常是添亂，而不是撥亂，中共有時不僅不能「搭便車」，反而成為受害者，有時還要幫助收拾美國留下的爛攤子。

對於美國發動伊拉克和阿富汗兩場戰爭，中共並不贊成；這兩場戰爭留下兩個爛攤子，造成的問題遠比解決的問題多，中共到這兩個國家投資，承擔相當風險，但有助於兩國的穩定，對中美也都有好處。

原文參照：
http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/13/obamas-free-rider-comment-draws-chinese-criticism/

紐約時報中文版翻譯：
http://cn.nytimes.com/world/20140814/c14obama/zh-hant/

Video：China as a Free Rider
http://nyti.ms/1q1USFi

2014-08-14．聯合報．A10．兩岸．大陸新聞中心