TWTW: The World This Week / Episode #16
Biden & Macron: glitter and glitches?....Macron & Musk enigmatically….Pakistan’s new ‘leader’….unease in Malaysia….whither China….striking docs….our cartoon from Chappatte.
This weekly feature for Andelman Unleashed, explores how the media of other nations are reporting and commenting on the United States, and how they are viewing the rest of the world.
How others see America
Biden / Macron … flash, glitter & much ado about little?
While the American press was waxing eloquent on the flashy state dinner the White House rolled out for French President Emmanuel Macron—the second laid on for him by as many presidents—and the leading French daily Le Monde was praising it as “un accueil fastueux,” [lavish welcome] devoting its top headline to a broader reservation. Above a front-page photo of a smiling Macron giving a thumbs-up, the paper warned: “A friendship without concession,” elaborating, “Joe Biden wanted to concede nothing on the Inflation Reduction Act.”
Indeed, a senior Élysée official warned a group of us in a background briefing even before Macron’s departure, whom I quoted in my NBC News column: “The United States has adopted legislation which has a number of merits given their energy transition objectives and the Americans insist on this point. The fact is, however, that this legislation has a direct impact on our industries. What we want to avoid is less the capture of markets by the Americans to the detriment of the Europeans than, basically, the repatriation of American investments from Europe to the United States or the reconsideration of American investments in Europe and in France.”
In Italy, the Milan-based national daily Corriere della Serra was prepared to give Biden the benefit of the doubt, correspondent Joseph Sarcina reporting that “in the end Macron obtained from Biden at least the acknowledgment that there are "hitches" and that "it is necessary to overcome them." Sarcina continued, “Biden is definitely not looking for a confrontation with France….And he explained the reason publicly: ‘Emmanuel is not only the leader of France, he is a European leader who has demonstrated his great abilities.’ At this stage of the war in Ukraine, the US government wants to unite the Western bloc as much as possible.” But the reporter concludes, “Seen from Washington, Macron's position appears hybrid.”
In contrast, Jonathan Miller, writing in The Spectator in London, observed that “Macron’s trip to Washington is pure theater…This is a gigantic photo opportunity for both presidents, manufactured news, signifying nothing….
“Twelve months ago, Macron was having a tantrum and recalling the French ambassador to Washington in the argument about submarines, but all this is now forgotten for a modern-day field of a cloth of gold in which Macron will preen with his new best friend Joe Biden….This all rather supposes that Franco-American relations are hunky-dory when they are really not, but it costs little to pretend otherwise…..And Miller concluded, “Nothing is going to be more Potemkin-village-like than Macron popping down on a side trip to New Orleans in his jets, perhaps under the illusion that people speak French there.”
Musk and Macron…. a somewhat unplanned encounter
As Le Monde correspondents Claire Gatinois and Philippe Ricard reported from New Orleans, the two met in a room at the New Orleans Museum of Art where Macron was delivering an address to a somewhat larger audience on the virtues of “francophonie.”
As for the meeting with Musk, “inserted into the interstices of a tight agenda,” as the reporters observed, Macron described the encounter as “clear and sincere.” Macron pledged “‘to work with Twitter to improve protection for children online. Elon Musk confirmed that to me today. Let us better protect our children online!’ the head of state indicated on Twitter, first in English, then in French.
“‘Absolutely,’ Musk replied to him more enigmatically…..The eruption of this conversation with the libertarian entrepreneur all but eclipsed the principal reason for the visit of Emmanuel Macron to Louisiana: climate and, above all, francophonia.”
One aside from yours truly, who having married a New Orleanian lass spends time down there: they pronounce Chartres Street….charters.
Lurking on the fringes….China
Not surprisingly, Beijing has been watching this week’s visit with not inconsiderable interest—especially as I wrote on Wednesday, “Macron, and Europe more broadly, hope China can develop into more of a partner than a competitor, particularly with respect to trade.” People’s Daily, the organ of the Chinese Communist Party, echoed that sentiment: “China-EU relations can be improved if we look at the big picture of the world,” the paper headlined, elaborating: “When the EU becomes more aware of how important it is to uphold strategic autonomy today, it will automatically trigger corresponding adjustments in its foreign relations. Frankly speaking, some European countries' policies toward China have been clearly subject to Washington's attitude in the past, which is obviously harmful for Europe. Fortunately, more Europeans are beginning to recognize this.”
The next day, the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported: “Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the United States is letting its ally Europe pay the price in the crisis….[Zhao was] asked to comment on French President Emmanuel Macron's criticism of the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act launched by the United States, which Macron said will ‘fragment the West’ while creating differences between the United States and Europe. Zhao said the U.S. legislation, designed to serve U.S. interests, shows no regard for other countries, not even its so-called allies and partners, ‘This is yet another example of the domineering America-first approach of the U.S.,’ he said.”
How Others See the World
In Pakistan, a new leader?
A new military leader in most countries is hardly headline news. But in Pakistan, where there has been a veritable revolving door between civilian and military rule going back decades, the arrival of a new military chief should hardly go unremarked. So, the Japanese news agency Nikkei Asia points out, “What happens in Pakistan doesn’t stay in Pakistan.” The report continues: “The eternally unstable Islamic Republic just chose its most powerful man -- and he's got his work cut out for him. After months of drama and debate, Gen. Asim Munir has taken the helm of the Pakistan army.”
“The new chief isn't a mere general, rather the 'General Manager' of the world's fifth-largest country,” Nikkei observed. “ The Pakistani army—the sixth-largest fighting force in the world, and the world's only nuclear-armed Islamic military—has caused many scholars to define it by using Voltaire's description of the Prussian military: Most countries have an army, but in this case, the army has a country…..Its generals have conducted illegal coups, kicked off wars without approval, suppressed dissent violently, and bred proxy warriors….and all with almost no accountability. Perhaps those costs are too great to bear for a country that is dead broke, awash with weapons and jihadists, has a big youth bulge, and resides in a very rough neighborhood. That's why, when there is a change of the guard in the Pakistani army, the world stops to take measure.”
My personal question, having covered for The New York Times the coup d’état that brought General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq to power in 1977 for 10 chaotic years, despite his pledge to restore civilian government in 90 days, is what political aspirations might General Munir harbor?
In Malaysia, a challenge to stability
The Straits Times in Singapore understandably is keeping a close and jaundiced eye on the political crisis unspooling in neighboring Malaysia where bureau chief Shannon Teoh reported that the new prime minister “Anwar Ibrahim’s Cabinet appeases warlords, but not the public.”
Then Teo explained, Ibrahim’s “new cabinet featured three politicians who lost at the recent general election and a deputy premier facing dozens of graft charges.”
Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post was even more direct, Joseph Sipalan and Hadi Azmi reporting that the cabinet “included the corruption-haunted Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as the country’s No 2 leader, indicative of compromises struck to keep the fragile administration intact. [Prime Minister] Anwar, 75, named himself finance minister—a position he held for seven years in the 1990s before he was plunged into political wilderness and jailed following a fallout with then leader Mahathir Mohamad.” On Andelman Unleashed, we’ve been following the Malaysian election and its aftermath, the most extraordinary since I was first reporting on them in the 1970s in this pivotal Southeast Asian democracy.
Whither China?
A key question being asked, if not answered, around the world is whither China—its economy in shambles after years of its zero-covid policy, whose draconian enforcement has sent millions of Chinese into the streets in an unprecedented rebellion. Neighboring Taiwan is paying perhaps the closest attention. “‘Chinese effiency’ [sic] hits tragic limit,” the Taipei Times will editorialize in its Sunday edition. “China appears to be easing some COVID-19 restrictions after a week of rare mass protests in several major cities across the country, sparked by increasing public frustration with its longstanding and authoritarian ‘zero COVID’ measures.”
“The world is watching to see how and when it puts an end to its dead-end policy,” the paper continues. “Xi is possibly facing one of the biggest challenges of his decade-long rule, but he must decide whether to maintain the ‘zero COVID’ policy — which has proved ineffective, taken a heavy toll on the economy, destroyed livelihoods, and fueled public discontent—or remove the restrictions and face the risk of mass infection and deaths. The latter would mean admitting the failure of a policy he has staked his political reputation on, a model of what he calls “Chinese efficiency.”
With Apple factories potentially hit hard, covid lockdowns and street protests all taking a toxic turn, Japan’s leading daily, Asahi Shimbun, editorialized: “Time to learn flexibility and cooperation,” then went on to elaborate: “Xi Jinping, who became the supreme leader in 2012 after the Hu Jintao administration, unfortunately seems to be turning the clock backwards. He concentrates power on himself and does not allow dissent. He has extended his control over civil society and private companies and has a conspicuous hardline stance in diplomacy and military affairs. Just as protests against coronavirus measures have spread across China, rigid policies that fail to correct their own mistakes only harass citizens and further destabilize society.”
Doctors on strike
France is having its own problems with covid—with a potential ninth wave of Covid en route and talk in government circles of re-imposing mask mandates on public transport, doctors went on strike across the nation for higher pay. So, the French news weekly Le Point decided to take a look beyond its borders at just how much doctors are earning in other corners of Europe. The French docs just might have a gripe.
“Such a doctors' strike, we hadn't seen for twenty years. In the past two days, in 60 to 80% of practices in France, doctors have put down stethoscopes,” wrote Gwendoline Dos Santos and Caroline Tourbe. “Their flagship claim is enough to shock more than one French person: the passage of the consultation from 25 to 50 euros….For their part, the unions have been hammering it for years: the consultation of general practitioners in France is one of the lowest in Europe, French doctors would [still] earn much less than the majority of their counterparts. According to the [doctors’ union], a consultation costs 123 euros in Austria, 72 in the Netherlands and 58 in Germany. Against 25 euros in France.”
And finally there’s Chappatte … China, freedom, and your iPhone…..
Patrick Chappatte, the Swiss cartoonist who draws regularly for the front page of the Geneva daily Le Temps, visualized what just might be happening behind the scenes when you get this message from Apple: “Your iPhone order is being processed.”
Along with Le Monde’s longtime p. 1 cartoonist Plantu, Chappatte was the founder of the great Cartooning for Peace collective. Son of a Swiss father and a Lebanese mother, he was born in 1967 in Karachi, Pakistan. He was the first non-American to win the coveted Thomas Nast Award from the Oversees Press Club of America in 2012 when I served as its president. Here’s how he imagines himself: