War against terrorism
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By Frank Ching
Tragedies often bring in their wake the realization of common vulnerabilities as well as greater clarity of vision.
Hopefully, the tragedies that resulted from the bombing of the Boston Marathon will result in closer cooperation between governments in the ongoing war against the agents of terrorism.
It now appears that the Russian government approached the Federal Bureau of Investigation two years ago about Tamerlan, the older of the two Tsarnaev brothers who are the prime suspects. The FBI at the time failed to find any link between the man who was shot dead in Boston Thursday and terrorist groups.
President Vladimir Putin spoke with his American counterpart, Barack Obama, over the weekend and the two men agreed to step up cooperation between their countries.
Beijing, too, called on the United States to put renewed emphasis on the war against terrorism and to work with China.
“After Osama bin Laden was shot dead in 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama declared victory in his country's anti-terrorism fight, and the pivot to Asia strategy became the priority,’’ the Global Times newspaper said.
The People’s Daily’s online added, “Boston’s blasts show that the U.S. anti-terrorist mission is far from ending.’’
A spate of articles in the official Chinese press has called on Washington to drop the “pivot to Asia and again give top priority to terrorism.’’
One problem, the Chinese say, is that there is no common definition of terrorism.
Russia and China “define terrorism without regard to the reason behind the attacks,’’ the Global Times said, but western countries “attach importance to the ‘motives? of any attacks against civilians.’’
As has been said, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.’’
Thus, the white minority government of South Africa labeled Nelson Mandela and other members of the African National Congress as terrorists. After apartheid ended, Mandela became South Africa’s president.
It may well be that westerners feel sympathy for people they consider to be oppressed, such as the Chechen the ethnic group in Russia of which the Tsarnaev brothers are a part.
There is also a strong feeling that Uigurs and Tibetans in China are oppressed minorities.
But all attacks on civilians should be condemned as terrorist attacks, regardless of who launches them.
After the Boston bombing, before it was known who was responsible and what their motivation may be, China condemned the attack and President Xi Jinping sent a message to President Obama expressing sympathy and condolences.
The Chinese government also thanked the United States for providing assistance to the relatives of the two Chinese victims, one killed and the other hospitalized.
While the United States will not end its policy of rebalancing to give greater priority to Asia because it sees that as the world’s most dynamic region and one where American exports have the greatest potential, there is no reason why Washington and Beijing cannot improve their relations on the basis of a common opposition to terrorism.
The fact that one of the three persons killed at the Boston marathon was a 23-year-old Chinese graduate student at Boston University provides dramatic proof that China and the United States are both victims of terrorism.
President Obama put it well when, in his remarks at the interfaith service in Boston, he said: “Our prayers are with the Lu family of China, who sent their daughter, Lingzi, to BU so that she could experience all this city has to offer. And in the heartache of her family and friends on both sides of a great ocean, we’re reminded of the humanity that we all share.’’
The young lady’s family has issued a statement in which they said that it had always been the dream of their daughter to study in America and, after arriving, “she fell in love with Boston and its people and had hoped for a career in international business, specializing in applied mathematics.’’
While her dream has not been realized, the letter said, “we want to encourage others who have Lingzi’s ambition and dreams, and want to make the world a better place, to continue moving forward.’’
The death of this graduate student, so young and full of life, will not have been in vain if her story ends up helping to narrow the gap between China and the United States in a kind of people-to-people relationship.
This is not as far-fetched as it sounds. A fund has been established to endow a memorial scholarship at Boston University in the name of Lu Lingzi. In death, this young woman may provide a lasting link between China and the United States.
China, clearly, is not enthusiastic about India playing a bigger role in the South China Sea.
Frank Ching is a journalist and commentator based in Hong Kong. Email the writer atfrank.ching@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter:@FrankChing1.