Asia catches cold when both the US and China sneeze!

I wonder if Americans wonder about why the rest of the world -- well, Asia at least -- takes such a keen interest in the US presidential election? That's because every time a new president comes into office, his foreign policy teams (from trade to diplomacy to international security) take a while to fully grasp the secret briefings they will receive. We fear an America that takes an isolationist turn; at the same time, we also fear an America that is engaged but insists on "my way or the highway".

This year is a double whammy -- China too is going through a top leadership transition. It is not that Asians are preoccupied only with American politics. We follow closely every detail of China's byzantine politics.

So, this year, if America sneezes in our direction, we can't just turn the other way because there is China sneezing into our face -- from the other direction! How not to catch a cold (and cold feet even)?

But, in a sense, China is easier to understanding -- arrived at from iterative interactions and engagements at all the levels. Its mandarins may have refined subtlety to a fine art but this is fairly consistent. One just needs to comprehend the embedded "code", and continually remind oneself that the Chinese worldview is one that is long-term, really, really long-term. That is why former Singapore foreign minister George Yeo can confidently give this assessment of the Sino-Singapore dynamic:

I guess, in contrast, the American political culture is both more transparent and more volatile. I guess it is also more interesting, and, by extension, more entertaining -- and I mean this in a flattering way, such as in Americans' ability to laugh at themselves.

I don't think a Christian Science Monitor (CSM) cartoon similar to this one below will appear in the Chinese (or even the Singapore) media:

Gaffes attain a cult -- not an occult -- status in America:

CSM even came up with this hilarious election Gaffe Dodger game:

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/Play-Gaffe-Dodger-the-presidential-election-game

And, from 9Gag.Com, there's also this (made up?) Google search result:

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Pictures that tell a thousand words?

As an Asian, I thought this picture of Bill Clinton bowing to Barack Obama gave a leg-up to the incumbent president, while symbolising a united Democratic Party:

On the other hand, a picture pregnant with foreboding implications -- at least in Asia -- can signal one's political death knell, as in this famous 1998 photo of Indonesia's late President Suharto and former IMF chief Michel Camdessus:

Here one account of that fateful event:

http://ipezone.blogspot.sg/2007/09/flashback-camdessus-suharto-pic.html

Finally, every politician will happily kiss babies but no Asian leader would bow down and allow a child to touch his head:

It would be the political equivalent of the kiss of death!