Posted on 03/20/2005 7:45:56 AM PST by blitzgig
BEIJING -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice suggested Sunday that European governments are irresponsible if they sell sophisticated weaponry to China that might one day be used against U.S. forces in the Pacific.
"It is the United States, not Europe, that is defending the Pacific," Rice said. She spoke in Seoul, the penultimate stop on her weeklong tour of Asia
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
Ping
True and candid, she told it the way it is. Most in the Pacific know this too.
However, many in Europe don't "care". Many of the policy makers there even know this. They know there is a threat. They know that there is a destabilizing factor involved in arming China. They know China is NOT reforming dramatically what human rights are concerned. They know all this, but in the end, two factors are driving their position.
Most importantly it’s to make money. Shameful and lame excuses are presented for why it’s OK to arm a potential belligerent. They are excuses that lack any moral righteousness and are façades just as the reasons for why they couldn’t, shouldn’t and didn’t help in Iraq. China spends a large amount on arms. They are eager to get their hands on state of the art western high tech weaponry. It's a market where BILLIONS could be made easily. Secondly, though we are strategic allies, some within Europe will use every opportunity available to spite and complicate the US position. This may seem unbelievable but this exact philosophy has been “publicly” announced by several prominent French politicians who see the need to build a counter weight to the US. The arming and destabilizing affect is a desired consequence while making an appreciable profit in markets with no competition except for the Russians (The US DOES enforce an arms sale ban on China). An armed China that opposes the US weakens the US position globally.
As in Iraq, the bottom feeding French are always there to make a buck even if it means selling arms to known enemies that are expansionistic and opportunistic in the use of force. China (Post WWII) = Korean involvement, Khmer Rough, Vietnam, Burma, Tibet, war with Russia, India, threaten Taiwan and claims waters out to 200Kms as its national boundary. China is NOT a sleeping giant. They are not an internally focused nation nor pacifist. Over the long haul, China may change and reform. However, arming them today will give them military options they may exploit. Today they are a threat nation and need to be seen as such despite their economic changes. Arming this nation puts Taiwan, S. Korea, Japan, the busiest water way on earth at risk. Arming them is not just irresponsible as Condi said. It goes further; it’s a hostile act towards the US and its Pacific allies. If I reversed the situation and were to try to justify the sale of MANPADS to Ivory Coast rebels, the reaction would be quiet clear from a Frenchman. Most Europeans would regard this as horrible and an indicator of the US’s disregard of others. Their media would be obsessed! Yet, this is already being sold to the masses in Europe as a needed consequence of a changed world. China after all has reformed they say. Most in Europe see no harm, nor are really interested. It's OK in their mind.
Red6
Condi Ping
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