Posted on 03/28/2005 1:30:38 PM PST by RWR8189
t is hard to imagine what China's leaders figured they had to gain by pushing through a law authorizing an attack on Taiwan if it moves toward formal independence. Beijing has been threatening such an attack for years, and the Communist Party's all-powerful leaders hardly need to get their toothless legislature's permission if they ever decide to plunge ahead with such lunacy.
But it is easy enough to see what damage this gambit has already done to China's international reputation and objectives. By reminding the world that Beijing seriously thinks about launching a shooting war across the Taiwan Strait that could conceivably draw in the United States, China has persuaded Europe to slow down its ill-advised drive to lift the arms embargo it imposed after the violent suppression of the Tiananmen Square democracy movement.
President Bush had been urging just such a reconsideration on European leaders without much result. It took China's legislative authorization of war to prove that Mr. Bush was absolutely right. The embargo was initially ordered to demonstrate that what happened on Tiananmen Square was totally unacceptable. To this day, China has not shown the slightest regret for those bloody events, nor has it given any guarantees that they will not happen again.
But the most compelling reason for keeping the embargo involves Taiwan. The island's official status is best deferred to another day, when passions on both sides of the Strait are cooler than they are right now. Independence-minded political leaders in Taipei need to restrain their rhetoric and gestures, while mainland leaders needed to stop brandishing threats.
Until that happens, selling China weapons that might be used to shoot down United States aircraft assigned to defend Taiwan is a terrible idea, and one that could lead Congress to restrict the sharing of American military technologies with European arms exporters.
Memo to NYT: After the Clintons, this is a little late.
I gather the Memo was an accurate portrayal of what actually happened regarding the Clintons, the Red Chinese, the Lippo Bank, the DNC, the Buddhist nuns, Loral Space, etc.
"This administration has done NOTHING but cave to corporate interests when it come to dealing with China and the technological and wealth transfers thereto"
It is simply amazing to watch the degree to which fortune-100 corporate interests dictate our policies towards China. The issues of the trade imbalance and the currency peg are particularly onerous.
I think the bush administration works within the reality that they are not going to simply cut off trade with china, or start a trade war, as they would have NO corporate support for such an action.
Given that, they are doing quite a bit in the region on the military and political side compared to the previous administration, and are clearly aware of the growing threat of the chinese military towards taiwan and our forces in the region.
"I gather the Memo was an accurate portrayal of what actually happened regarding the Clintons, the Red Chinese, the Lippo Bank, the DNC, the Buddhist nuns, Loral Space, etc."
What memo are you talking about?
I don't know how much more they have done in the region than the previous admin. What is particularly annoying is the F16 sale to Pakistan. India is the best check on China in the region and we give F16s to Pakistan. Not to mention we may end up having them used against us someday.
RE: It is hard to imagine what China's leaders figured they had to gain by pushing through a law authorizing an attack on Taiwan if it moves toward formal independence.
I can more than imagine it. What they are doing is testing us. They want to see if we would really defend Taiwan, or, would talk ourselves out of it in order to maintain the flow of trade from the PRC.
Got news for you: they're here. COSCO has a port facility at Long Beach that drew scant media attention a few years back when they staffed their own 'security guards'.
Their security guards were fully uniformed PLA soldiers with full-auto weapons.
There's a handful of people who've written about it before the Chinese got wise and changed the uniforms and guns so it is out there on the web.
But the point is that if they want to invade all they have to do is load up the troops and come on over.
The only thing in their way is 60 million armed Americans.
But the UN is working hard to fix that.
"Not to mention we may end up having them used against us someday."
If we face a war with Pakistan we'll shoot down the F-16s the same way we've shot down scores of Iranian F-14s over the years. We know how to build 'em and we know how to break 'em.
You must've had too much iced tea, eh ?
Why have an international arms or anything embargo? Crap countries like france,germany, russia, china will all break an embargo to make a buck. Yo gotta know that by now?
In regards to China, I believe the discussion should involve two questions:
1) If China's government fell away due to internal political unrest, and free elections took place, would this do anything to change the current trade deficit?
2) If not, then is the primary reason that China is a considered a threat is because of their lack of human rights and political freedom?
I believe the first answer is no, and in fact, if the communists did fall away and in absence of a long-term civil war, the economic engine would more than likely speed up and really wouldn't change the equation much in our favor. Although workers would slowly demand more money than what they currently get. A change in government is not going to bring back manufacturing jobs to the U.S., however, it may make it easier for the U.S. to combat copyright and patent fraud if they desire to be considered a rational trading partner. Plus they need our food.
The answer to the second is yes, their penchant for controlling a designed destiny, crushing religious freedom and basic political rights are the primary causes for concern. This is what may spiral out of control in light of their responses to Taiwan. They have a big military and they have slowly built their confidence up since the 1950s and are now showing a willingness to flex their might against psuedo, popularized fear (As Richard Pryor once said "I am afraid of a billion of anything.") What better place to do it, than a recalcitrant little island off the coast?
The main thing is the Chinese communist government has to go, and their people set free. A symbiotic(?) relationship needs to emerge somewhat similar to the U.S. and Puerto Rico. (Those fervered few that feel inclined to respond to symbolic analogy can hold off. I am fully aware of its poor analogy but you get my point. Please feel free to respond to my overall comment.)
In such a remote and unlikely event that PLA troops occupy the United States I will just get my rifle and start popping some heads off.
"What is particularly annoying is the F16 sale to Pakistan"
You gotta wonder what the real reason for that sale is. I don't see the value of the pakistani regime given the possibility the head of state will be assassinated successfully at some point in the not far future, given the number of attempts in recent years.
on the other hand, I have wondered on what value having young children learn mandarin as a second language would have, given the huge role china will play in the world economy in 30 years. Having a kid learn japanese 20 years ago certainly wouldn't have helped the vast majority of college graduates.
The Russians when crtitisized for selling jet-fighters, subs and destroyers to China, said, "a few SU-30, Sovremmennys, KILOS are NOT going to change the strategic balance with China" How right they are
China may well already have developed successfully MOLECULAR NANOTECHNOLOGAL WEAPONS ( Post nuclear bombs weapons), Laser, EMG, MIcro-wave etc etc
A few European conventional weapons might well NOT have any impact on the overall strategic balance of power
I am sure the United States has something even better. Already the USAF is working on gamma-ray weapons that work like neutron bombs but use gamma rays. I am sure there is other more exotic stuff that we are not being told about.
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