CHINA WATCHES, WAITS: MASSIVE MILITARY BUILD-UP, MAJOR ESPIONAGE EFFORT

INA Today ^ | November 17, 2004 | By Toby Westerman

[TapTheSource]

CHINA WATCHES, WAITS: MASSIVE MILITARY BUILD-UP, MAJOR ESPIONAGE EFFORT

November 17, 2004 By Toby Westerman Copyright 2004 International News Analysis Today www.inatoday.com

Despite assurances from just-resigned Secretary of State Collin Powell regarding U.S.-China relations, the second term of the administration of George W. Bush could encounter a major war in the Pacific, and is witnessing a major espionage offensive.

Communist China is demonstrating an increasingly high level of aggression and military intrusion against its neighbors, engaging in actions which could pull the United States into a naval war in the Pacific.

Taiwan faces invasion - possibly at any moment -- from China, at least one Chinese submarine has intruded into Japanese waters, and, most amazingly, Chinese intelligence services have been able to acquire a file of personal data on nearly every inhabitant on the island of Taiwan. Communist China's spy services have targeted and succeeded in obtaining files on military service records, vehicle and household registration, and national health data, according to the Taiwan news daily, the Taipei Times.

China claims Taiwan as a rebel province. The government on Taiwan, known formally as the Republic of China on Taiwan (ROC), fled to the island following its defeat at the hands of Communist forces on the mainland. Although the U.S. no longer has formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, the U.S. remains committed to the island under the terms of the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.

China's ability to compromise nearly every citizen of Taiwan, including the highest ranking military and governmental personnel, raises alarming questions concerning Beijing's espionage capabilities directed against other opponents, including the United States. Already in the mid and late 1990s, newspaper headlines reported the loss of important U.S. military and technology secrets to China. It is an open question as to how far Beijing has gone in the penetration and documentation of American society.

The mainland Communist government remains adamant in its determination to invade at the first declaration of Taiwan independence, and recent statements from Beijing declare that Taiwan is "playing with fire" as it presses for recognition as a separate nation.

Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian has vowed to seek a membership for Taiwan in the United Nations as an independent state, further enraging Beijing.

China is conducting an impressive modernization of its armed forces, which leads Pentagon observers to warn that Beijing could eventually rival U.S. forces in the Pacific. China is building an increasingly sophisticated military to successfully obstruct any U.S. attempt to aid Taiwan in case of Communist invasion.

China's military capabilities potentially not only threaten Taiwan, as China's disputes with its neighbors grow and as the nations in the Asia-Pacific region keep a wary eye on the increasingly powerful Red Dragon.

Japanese naval forces recently hunted a foreign submarine intruding into Japan's territorial waters. Indications from the sub's identifiable sounds and its course of sail pointed to Communist China as its nation of origin.

The incident occurred 75 miles south of a group of disputed islands, known as the Senkaku to the Japanese and Diaoyu to the Chinese, highlighting the contest between Japan and China for oil and gas resources believed to exist in the region.

Following two days of international crisis, China finally admitted that the "mystery" sub was theirs, and claimed a "technical error" for the intrusion.

The United States Navy is the only major force in the Pacific belonging to a democratic nation, and America remains committed to the defense of Taiwan, Japan and other allies in the region.

In 1958, the U.S. fought alongside Taiwanese forces in a deadly artillery conflict with China's Peoples Liberation Army, and in the following years sent naval forces on several occasions to deter a mainland attack on Taiwan.

As China's power grows, so too will the challenge to the U.S. presence in the region, and America's commitment to its allies.

[mudblood]

Fascinating articles, both.

[Honorary Serb]

Unlike Russophobe "TapThe Source", I support Putin and a strong Russia, as a worthy partner for a republican (i.e., not imperial) America.

However, I am NOT as sanguine about getting in bed with communist China as the clintons, the Soroses, and even the Wallmart lovers on this forum. Over-dependence on a communist, potentially aggressive and imperialist China for our manufactuirng base--not to mention clintonite trading of defense-related intellectual property to China--is a disaster in the making!!!!

I NEVER shop at Wallmart. I am a high-culture loving, Ivy League educated, socially conservative Evangelical Orthodox Lutheran Christian. I also love Texas barbecue and the Red Sox, and of course the Serbs, despite being "high-culture" and despite having two Harvard degrees. We all have muliple identities, and respecting that is very American and truly conservative. Not every Freeper loves Walmart and its "culture" (?). And its effects on our foreign policy and our economy are leading us to disaster.

[mudblood]

"China being mentioned in the campaign"

I think that's because Vietnam service/National guard service and other personal character issues were "safe" areas that the two candidates could dissagree on, fight over, etc. But both candidates knew what threat China represented, knew that they could only deal with China in a tough way, and were equally afraid that as soon as one of them issued statements about what they'd do, the other would pounce. I suspect they didn't talk about it because their approach would have been exactly the same - they'd have to oppose China's growing strength in the world with everything they had.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

I think I explained why in the post. Maybe it was in a private reply. I have nothing invested in Taiwan. China is a Marxist threat as the Soviet Union was. If they move into Taiwan and we do nothing:
1. They'll take that as a sign of weakness, that we don't want to get involved heatedly in their actions in Asia
2. We lose a staging ground of operations should a war break out.

In short, if they take Taiwan, they're going to be much more inclined to start moving into other countries. They'll also put the squeeze on us economically however they can. We've allowed ourselves to become dependent upon their cheap labor and have given up a good deal of our manufacturing to them.

When they begin making threats against India, it will probably be too late to avoid direct military action.

[Brilliant]

I don't think we have to worry about Russia. China is a bit more belligerant than it should be, constantly threatening Taiwan, and cozying up to N. Korea, even threatening the US from time to time. Wasn't too long ago that they were bragging that they had the ability to completely destroy the US with atomic bombs. Of course, then there was the incident with the spy plane.

They were less aggressive when Mao was in power. I suspect, though, that they will eventually realize that being a bully gets them nothing. It's going to take time, though. They've been around for 5,000 years, so it might take a lot of time.

[nw_arizona_granny]

To: TapTheSource; callmejoe; Calpernia; Revel;
appalachian_dweller; Velveeta; Alabama MOM; lacylu; ...

Well worth reading this thread.

China and Russia.


24 posted on 11/17/2004 10:49:00 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny
(On this day your Prayers are needed!!!!!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]

---

The above is my entire post.

I was not aware that the use of "well worth reading this thread" "China and Russia", was stating an opinion.

In America, we are still allowed to find articles interesting and say so.

I am not interested in your opinions.

[Mamzelle]

I should care about India, too? Have they been sending soldiers to Iraq?

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

An economic threat to our country is as real and dangerous as an enemy nation who surrounds our shores with battleships. We can see this manifest in the threat Saddam and the Islamofascists posed in their controlling of the oil. A war for oil is a valid war in my view. If you choke off the oil supply to America, you effectively end America. We are completely dependent upon oil, from the machinery that farms our food, the vehicles that transport it throughout our nation, to the petroleum-powered turbines that generate much of our electricity. A threat is not a threat only militarily, and an ally is not only an ally militarily. Our allies can also be economic (free market) and socio-political (democratic). The more of these that an enemy can bring under his control, the more isolated and vulnerable WE are.

India, and many of the other Asian nations such as Japan, are democracies and economic allies of ours. If they lose their democracy and sovereignty to China, China essentially places a strangle hold on us economically. This was the tact of the Soviet Union.

China's actions against Taiwan are the beginning of another Cold War or World War. Either way, it can be nipped in the bud if we defend Taiwan. If we deal strongly with China on this issue, Nixon's plan of reducing them as a Communist threat by guiding them into a free-market economy, will win out.

[AnimalLover]

Here's more

China makes strides in space technology
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-10/06/content_379966.htm

China, France sign 20 agreements
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-10/11/content_381375.htm

Chinese riot police head for Haiti mission
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-10/18/content_383182.htm

[AnimalLover]

Here's another. Read Post #4


How Russia keeps China armed

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1283386/posts

[Mamzelle]

I don't see how a threat to either Taiwan or India is any kind of an economic threat to US citizens. They are our competitors, and generally are hugely unfair competitors. They undercut our labor, often by using socialist/protectionist tactics.

Who cares about them? You do--but why should I?

India is nastily anti-American, unhelpful in the WOT, when they're not sending envoys for Bush to "reassure" them that there'll be no action to limit outsourcing. I certainly do not want to see US soldiers, deprived of jobs by these same erstwhile helpless "allies", sent to protect them because they're too weak (?) to do it themselves.

You started out with a moral argument ("We owe them! We are morally indebted to them!") which I reject utterly, continued with a a peculiar assertion of "We must not abandon them." Now we must defend them for some unexplained economic threat.

The only threats are to the globalist corporations who don't want to hire Americans anymore. If they don't want to hire Americans to work for them producing goods, I sure as heck do not want Americans defending their property.

The corporations enjoy advantages in hiring the labor of nations like Taiwan and India. That's now what American citizens must deal with and learn to survive with--or so the priests of Free Trade insist .

Will the priests of Free Trade now demand that our unemployed leap to risk lives for Taiwan and India? So that the advantage of the corporations be undisturbed by tides of nationalism?

Bah. Hegemony Crickets.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

You need to do a little research about American and her international economic partners. We take in more money from India than we part out. Japan as well. As well as many of the other smaller, Asian-Pacific islands. I suggest Milton Friedman's "Capitalism and Freedom" and Thomas Sowell's "Basic Economics."

I'm am very opposed to massive offshoring. And I'm not the lackey of corporations. But you need to understand that our economy IS our freedom. But hey, if you hate corporations, which are a huge part of our economy, that's your opinion. I wonder how you'd feel if bank robbers held up your bank and stole all your money and you didn't get any of it back. Wouldn't you want to prevent such a robbery in the first place? Most corporations, especially those of international concern, are publicly owned and traded. A Marxist invasion into a country where we have strong economic ties takes from our economy and our private citizens. I don't want our military 'fighting for our corporations', but we also can't allow foreign powers to run roughshod over our economy.

You sound like an isolationist. If you are, then there's no further reasoning with you. If you don't understand that an isolationist eventually finds himself surrounded by the enemy, there's nothing I can do to convince you. We are dependent on other nations and they are dependent upon us, regardless of how 'nasty' they may be to us. I'm no fan of India and I believe we ought to restrict our offshoring to them, and I was as pissed as anyone when they didn't support the WOT. So your solution is to give them the finger and let China take her? Maybe you're not aware that China has had military operations along the Indian border and masses no small number of troops there. Your solution is to let China have India. Good. Chamberlain would love your approach.

Is there something wrong with arguing from more than one point? We were and are Taiwan's ally. Should we just flip off our allies whenever it suits us? We have military and economic interests in Asia, like it or not. These are three good, important reasons for not allowing a COMMUNIST nation to walk into and overthrow a free country. Three reasons are somehow worse than one?

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

Correction: meant to delete 'money' from 'take in more money' and to leave it at 'takes in far more than had we no trade with these countries. A pre-coffee mistake.

[Mamzelle]

Not choosing to pay out huge sums in military defense dollars, from taxpaying citizens, not to mention actual US lives, to defend a corporation in a nation not America does not translate into any sort of populist anticapitalism.

I just figure a company that chooses to take their jobs to Taiwan has to live with the consequences of loyalty to citizens not American.

They invested their money. They takes their chances. Why should I want to protect them from the downside of their choices and chances?

If they want the protection of the American eagle, let them keep their businesses and jobs underneath the right pair of wings.

As far as allies go, I'd jump to help Britain and Australia. But the WOT has seriously diminished for me, and I'll bet for many other conservatives, any kind of regard for nations that won't help. I particularly despise South Korea...a military powerhouse that would be nothing but a fetid backwater if it hadn't been for tens of thousands of US lives. Who needs another SKorea?

[Arial Jones]

"This might happen as their economy grows and the people improve the quality of their living."

What Are You? Crazy, You Can't Improve The Contry By Turning It To Democracy, It's Just Going To Ruin Everything. China Government's Coffer Are Filled By State Owned Businesses, If You Elect A Liberal Youll Lose Not Only Jobs But Also Cash Since They Sell Those Businesses Like In Canada, The Freakin Liberals Sold The Airport, Petro Canada And A Hell Lot More Of Businesses Including The Power Plant.

[Quix]

So much possible/probably truth in what you say.

Yet, it seems like AC already has wholesale control of our Senate and government in general.

And certainly of the UN and Europe.

Sigh.

Even So, come quickly, Lord Jesus--after we've loved all into the Kingdom, we can!