The Ass Clown of the Month Award for December, 2013

Once again, the time has come to designate our Ass Clown of the Month - the individual or organization that, because of its egregious behavior, exemplifies the qualities of ass clownery that make us shake our heads and go he/she/they did what??

This month, the coveted award goes to ...

The Government of China

for its diplomatic ineptitude and blissfully tone-deaf approach to foreign relations in unilaterally establishing an Air Defense Interception Zone (ADIZ) which seeks to promote Chinese hegemony over a set of islands in the East China Sea that are claimed by both China and Japan. 

By taking this action and threatening foreign aircraft which enter the area, the Chinese have played into the hands of right-wing Japanese nationalists and have given other Asian nations with which China has territorial disputes a reason to doubt China's professed peaceful intentions. It is no coincidence that one of the first things that happened after China's announcement of the ADIZ was that the US, in a pointed gesture of support for its Asian allies, sent two unarmed B-52 bombers on a screw-you sortie through the zone without the prior announcement demanded by the Chinese.

All nations establish air defense zones. This is a legitimate defensive measure and there's nothing wrong with it. But by unilaterally imposing an ADIZ which reinforces a political demand for sovereignty over disputed territory (and overlaps defense zones already imposed by other countries), refusing to acknowledge that other nations may have legitimate claims over the same territory, and refusing to discuss or negotiate* the action, the Chinese Government has richly earned its designation as our Ass Clown of the Month for December, 2013.

Check the deed on your house ... the Chinese government may try to put a claim on it.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* Who do they think they are ... Republicans?