China and the Final War for Resources

321 Energy ^ | February 9, 2005 | Bill Ridley

[Nephi]

"What's coming will be more devastating to the U.S. economy than any nuclear strike..." - The Asia Times

I. Unrestricted War

Unrestricted War: China’s Master Plan to Destroy America is a treatise for world domination written in 1999 by People’s Liberation Army Colonels Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui. In order for China to become a dominant global power over the United States, the PLA emphasizes “The Final War over Resources”, must be won.

[Nephi]

Why do we continue to fund China's military build up against the US with a half a trillion dollar trade deficit with them?

[hillary's_fat_a**]

This article is right-on and I fully believe the contents. We are headed for an oil showdown with the Chi-Coms.

[joe fonebone]

we can head them off at the pass..........
russia is currently cash starved........
eastern siberia has reserves of oil that can exceed 10 million barrels a day for 50 years......
soooo......why don't we buy a big chunk of the frozen wasteland of siberia from the russians? they get the cash, we get the land, and the oil reserves, putting china's plan out to pasture for at least 50 years? any comments?

[Drammach]

The very next paragraph sums up the strategy quite clearly..

The Colonels state that the aggressor nation “must adjust its own financial strategy, use currency revaluation or devaluation as primary weapons, and combine means such as getting the upper hand in public opinion and changing the rules sufficiently to make financial turbulence and economic crisis appear in the targeted country or area, weakening its overall power, including its military strength. Whether it be the intrusions of hackers, a major explosion at the World Trade Center, or a bombing attack by bin Laden, all of these greatly exceed the frequency bandwidths understood by the American military..."

The article then changes tenor and fixates on the economic effects of China's rabid appetite for oil... ( forecasting $100 oil prices ) and use of the trade deficit to devalue the U.S. Dollar..

Not saying it couldn't happen, just wondering if a country that some say is over-extending itself financially and economically at this time, is in a position to execute such a strategy?
While I tend to agree there is an "economic war" going on at various levels throughout the world, China is only now becoming a player in that game.. still an "emerging" economic power..
China itself is incredibly vulnerable right now..

[squirt-gun]

Re # 2

They have a fourth of the earth's population, a rich historic culture (e.g.Ming dynasy) to work away from, a high degree of scientific brilliancy in a highly intelligent population (many of the green card scientists I worked with are returning home), and a tremendous work ethic to boot!!! Are they to be taken seriously? You bet.

Yes, They have Lots of serious problems as well but their economic, social, manufacturing, development, and military strengths are increasing rapidly.

[American Vet Repairman]

"Why do we continue to fund China's military build up against the US with a half a trillion dollar trade deficit with them?"

Because in the USA we equate capitalism with patriotism. They may be overlapping values in the sense of freedom-but they can also at times be diametrically opposed to each other.

[chilepepper]

why i am optimistic about US-Chinese relations:

the chinese are natural capitalists. communism in china is a 55yr old aberation, not a "natural state of affairs". historically, china has not been particularly nationalist

that said, we are in for a bumpy road for the next 10 years --

we are already competing for natural resources (the big oil price rises of the last six months were a combination of anti-Bush market manipulation and soaring chinese demand). the communist gerontocracy are seeing their power slipping away to a new, sophisticated and entrepreneurial class who know what democracy is and will demand it. the size and diversity of china makes a single unified state a difficult thing: holding it together by force is not enough -- the old line will try to exploit chinese nationalism to maintain power and keep the country unified, and have the excess male population to burn in wars if they go this route.

the big conundrum for china is that if they go the war route, they can kiss their exports goodbye. the seas will be a killing field of chinese freighters.

but the bottom line, IMHO, is that the chinese will bluster and threaten, but only a big miscalculation by them would result in war.

war would be *really* bad for chinese business...

[superiorslots]

Quote: a high degree of scientific brilliancy in a highly intelligent population (many of the green card scientists I worked with are returning home),


..and probbaly taking home a bunch of company secrets with them to be used against us.

[squirt-gun]

Re # 8...

Yes,no doubt about it.

[monkeywrench]

Then, they're not "brilliant", but sneaky. Also, they're economy is shot full of corruption.

[squirt-gun]

Re # 10....Then, they're not "brilliant", but sneaky.

That a person is brilliant does not exclude that person from also being sneaky....N'est Pas?