John Edwards is still trying. He might have been a good country lawyer but he has still got a lot more polishing to do before he has a foreign policy resume. He spoke about his trip to China in front of the Asia Society of New York today. The speech might have worked well in front of a rural audience but not in front of China experts.
His US centric world view was on display in comment after comment. How does Chinese support for "rogue regimes" in Sudan and Venezuela differ from US support of Saudi and Nigeria? Does the world really crave for US leadership? Does the world need US morals as defined by the Christian right? Might the only real benefit of the war in Iraq be the loss of the America's stature as the world's only hyper power.
He did not study China much before or after his trip. He forgot the names of the agencies that he meet with. He was surprised that all of the Chinese cared about the Taiwan issue.
Some of the speech sounded like the same platitudes spoken about Japan: "the single most bilateral relationship in the world today".
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