Lehuster on March 4, 2008 at 7:11 AM

Then we have to agree to disagree.

Who cares what they are up to (we sure don’t as long as we have cheap goods), the fact is our great “foreign policy” and “trade” expertise that lets them build their military… at US tax payer expense.

Yup, I am feeling safe.

TOPV on March 3, 2008 at 6:21 PM

Score another one for…”Bush”

TOPV on March 3, 2008 at 6:22 PM

Sorry to bust your bubble dude, but it was Billy Jeff that allowed the Commerce Dept. to oversee the sale of sensitive materials to China, “our partners in trade”, as well as the laxity in security at Alamogordo, NM where Chinese spies stole EVERY NUKE SECRET WE HAVE. Now the Commies can build ANY nuke in OUR INVENTORY and equip it with a missile that can be pinpointed by GPS to ANY TARGET IN THE WORLD.
Again, Thanks to Billy Jeff Clinton and Hillary too.

Dream on, sucker. All our trade with China will not lead to a democratic China. It will lead to a strong, authoritarian China.

And you think Russia is a democracy now, or at any time since 1991? Um, no. Not unless you believe form trumps substance.

Sooner or later, we will have to deal with North Korea.

The Norks can be ignored.

It’s no relief when we hear China’s upgrading defensive systems (instead of putting these outlays to offensive systems); they are only doing that so they can feel more secure in utilizing their offensive ones.

More than ever, Taiwan has right to feel more and more nervous.

Lehuster on March 3, 2008 at 10:12 PM

There you go, you’ve just bought into the rationale for the military buying stuff to fight the PRC instead of al Qaeda. Key words: “anti-access”.

Best bet – bring them to the table with a strong negotiator on our side and go for the soft kill so eventually they become a democracy (like the way the Soviets went). Also keep on developing ASAT and ABM weapons, both of which will have use against Kim Jong-il. Sooner or later, we will have to deal with North Korea. Better to have the PRC stay on their side of the Yalu or better still support getting rid of this hermit rather than re-enact the Korean War.

So what are the Chinese up to? No one at the Pentagon can quite figure it out.

Nope. The Pentagon has it exactly figured out. What they’re up to is “anti-access” – shutting us out. For this you need ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, air-defense missiles, submarines, mines, advanced interceptors… hey, exactly what they’re building or buying!

Fortunately, it looks as though China has not focused on building the most offense-oriented system of a modern navy: an aircraft carrier.

Nothing “fortunate” about it. A Chinese carrier would be a big fat target for us. They know this very well. After all, they are totally focused on sinking our carriers…

Kid’s are indoctrinated to the point were most would rather learn to be golf pros or video game testers than engineers or scientists actually contributing to something productive.
So very true, my last 3 technician hires are not of indigenous stock….locals lament, “its like to really complicated work”!

The North Central USA is the Achilles Heal. Unions are tightening their hold and Socialism has taken root in the mentality of the populace in that region. It where the 5th Column is really the most active.

The communist/socialists who threaten our way of life are not in Beijing, they are here; in Washington D.C., taking more power for government; in Hollywood, eroding our culture; in the New York media, convincing people that everyone believes this or that; and on the streets, wearing pink shirts and shouting down older, wiser people in a Maoist theory that youth and revolution is better than age and wisdom.

I fear for my country, but I don’t fear China.

No war w/ PRC anytime soon or ever, boys & girls. Unless you truly, honestly want one.

It’s time for the soft kill on this guy so we can get a hard kill on the DPRK (aka North Korea).

HotAirJosef on March 3, 2008 at 7:36 PM

Who said anything about a war, laddy? Careful on that jump…

And don’t forget, alliances are always temporary–and usually of convenience. Today’s political climate can easily change tomorrow. 9/10 vs 9/11.

p40tiger on March 3, 2008 at 7:46 PM

My thoughts exactly.

has three essays on dealing with China for the future. Long reads but if you want the in-depth analysis necessary to understand some of the world politics, this magazine is the one to go to.

China wants to shut down the world economy to prevent a plague of wealthy homegrown all-night-playing-Mahjong fanatics from taking China over?

China wants to invade the west in order to cool down it’s boiling economy?

China is an economic threat.

Grayson on March 3, 2008 at 7:25 PM

Montana on March 3, 2008 at 7:27 PM

Nessuno on March 3, 2008 at 7:30 PM

As Dr. Thomas P.M. Barnett, a respected analyst tries to explain, we need China and China needs us (namely our business). Even the Pentagon report on the PRC had this to say today:

Factors of Deterrence
China is deterred on multiple levels from taking military action against Taiwan. First, China does not yet possess the military capability to accomplish with confidence its political objectives on the island, particularly when confronted with the prospect of U.S. intervention. Moreover, an insurgency directed against the PRC presence could tie up PLA forces for years. A military conflict in the Taiwan Strait would also affect the interests of Japan and other nations in the region in ensuring a peaceful resolution of the cross-Strait dispute.
Beijing’s calculus would also have to factor in the potential political and economic repercussions of military
conflict with Taiwan. China’s leaders recognize that a war could severely retard economic development. Taiwan is China’s single largest source of foreign direct investment, and an extended campaign would wreck Taiwan’s economic infrastructure, leading to high reconstruction costs. International sanctions could further damage Beijing’s economic development. A conflict would also severely damage the image that Beijing has sought to project in the post-Tiananmen years and would taint Beijing’s hosting of the 2008 Olympics. A conflict could also trigger domestic unrest on the mainland, a contingency that Beijing appears to have factored into its planning. Finally, China’s leaders recognize that a conflict over Taiwan involving the United States would give rise to a long-term hostile relationship between the two nations – a
result that would not be in China’s interests.

No war w/ PRC anytime soon or ever, boys & girls. Unless you truly, honestly want one.

It’s time for the soft kill on this guy so we can get a hard kill on the DPRK (aka North Korea).

What do you think the significance is that the Chinese government doesn’t think we are natural allies? To my mind, that is far more important than whether or not we are in fact natural allies. If they think we’re not, then we’re not allies.

Anyway, talk of “natural allies” is silly anyway. Japan and the US appear to be something of “natural allies” and yet that didn’t stop them from attacking us in 1941.

In fact, Pearl Harbor came about pretty much exclusively because Japan had a vision of itself as a strong Pacific and East Asian power. In order to effect that reality, Japan needed to dislodge first the European powers from the Pacific, and then destroy American power. They had no designs on Hawaii itself, but instead needed to dislodge America’s hold on the Philippines and its ability to project itself into the western Pacific.

So my point is that it often doesn’t matter what America does or doesn’t do diplomatically or how we view our relationship with China. What matters is what THEY think and what THEY want.

If China wants to expand its power into parts of Asia and the world where it currently doesn’t exist, we really have only 3 options.

1) Let them have it, and let our influence retreat.

2) Build ours and our allies’ militaries to be so powerful (and keep it that way) such that China knows it has no chance of succeeding. (It must be strong enough to leave no margin for error.)

3) Do nothing and await an attack.

Again, these options are only true if you accept my premise that the Chinese do (or might) want to expand their power and influence. But since we don’t have any control over what they want for their nation, I suggest we do something or than wishful thinking.

If I was China, I’d build too. They want hegemony in their area of the world and as of now they cannot claim it because of us meddlesome Americans.

I also suspect that China isn’t blind to islamic fundementalism, especially in their western provinces and in their neghbors to the south (Malaysia and Indonesia).

The big questions here are:

1. How long will the Democrats continue to prevent our weapon and intelligence advancements?

and

2. What will the Japanese do? Their military is small, but superb. They have a large ratio of officers to enlisted men–meaning they can conscript and train fast. Their problem? Same as in WW2. Small landmass and few natural resources.

and finally,

3. India.

I smell an arms race.