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Just as the
new Bush Administration is starting to find its footing in Congress, it
must tread very carefully during its first foreign policy crisis. Coming
on the heels of some ironically ill-timed saber rattling, including Defense
Secretary Rumsfeld's recommendation that containing China become the strategic
focus of U.S. military doctrine, the forced landing of a fully loaded
spy plane in Chinese territory could not be more awkward. Astrology, long
the counselor of kings and generals, may give us some extra insight into
the dynamic forces involved in this standoff.
 Nations
and their governments have charts too, just like people, corporations
or anything that has a definite beginning. The U.S. was born on July 4,
1776, with the Sun in Cancer, while Communist China, born on October 1,
1949, has the Sun in Libra. Just like people, some countries get along
better than others. The U.S. and China rarely see eye-to-eye on anything.
Tension
Between Nations
A unique
tension exists between Cancer and Libra, two signs poised in a difficult
90-degree square relationship. That same type of tension keeps the United
States and China perpetually at odds. Planets in square aspect rub each
other the wrong way, exposing differences that must be resolved. This
need for resolution stimulates action, change or growth at best, but it
can too easily degenerate into open conflict.
Further complicating
the potential for antagonism between the two is the chart
of President George W. Bush. Bush is also a Cancer (born July
6, 1946, at 7:26 am EDT in New Haven, Connecticut ), and his birth chart
mirrors the U.S. chart in ways that have a distinct bearing on this incident.
Both charts share a natal square between Cancer and Libra. In President
Bush's chart, his Cancer Sun is locked into a 90-degree square aspect
with his natal Moon and Jupiter in Libra, while the U.S. Cancer Sun forms
a square aspect to Saturn in Libra.
Midair
Collision
It
is these Cancer-Libra configurations that were triggered during the midair
collision and landing, which occurred on April 1, 2001 at approximately
9:15 am off the coast of Lingshui, Hainan Island. At that time, the Sun and Venus were in the aggressive, warlike sign of Aries, the opposite
sign of Libra, while the Moon was in Cancer. This formed a
t-square configuration, a tense knot of planets forming tight squares and oppositions between the signs Aries, Cancer and Libra, and forcing
the focus on the already difficult U.S./China relationship.
Diplomacy
is a Libran art, and this standoff is in sore need of that artful sign's
talent for balance and tact. The Chinese have demanded an apology, and
the U.S., as a rule, doesn't apologize. If we could try to put ourselves
in their place, even for a moment, we might begin to understand how very
threatened the Chinese feel. Whatever qualms we have about China's potential
for expansion, they are monstrously outsized by China's very real fear
of the United States as the single most dominant global power.
The Chinese
people see this incident as a violation of their sacred borders, as yet
another intrusion of our insatiable imperialism. Whether we agree with
that view or not, it would be much better for the U.S. if the Chinese
felt less of a need to defend themselves against us. Then they could go
back to the business of rapidly expanding their own market economy, a
process that is sure to result in greater freedom and prosperity for the
Chinese people.
The fine
Libran art of the apology is almost lost in this modern age, but a well-crafted
apology, delivered from a position of strength, is hardly a sign of weakness,
but rather an expression of the sort of far-sighted wisdom that mends
fences and builds bridges to the future. Is the Bush Administration up
to practicing diplomacy at this level? Maybe.
What
Will Happen Next?
While I wouldn't
entirely rule out some kind of hot-dog rescue attempt, cooler heads may
yet prevail. Both nations have bigger fish to fry. There are a number
of difficult astrological aspects coming up this year, such as the Jupiter-Pluto
opposition in May and the Saturn-Pluto opposition in August, and we don't
need to waste time or resources over this event. The Libran Chinese government
actually showed some forbearance when we bombed their embassy in Belgrade.
In return, maybe we can allow them to save some face here.
The Bush
Administration needs to find a diplomatic solution and get this incident
behind them. If it drags on through April and May, then other developments,
both planetary and political, could overtake and complicate the situation.
The U.S. and China may never understand or trust each other, but neither
nation can afford a falling out, so we will all have to learn how to get
along.
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