[CHARLITE]

Thanks, King! I read this one very early this morning on the WA Times, and decided not to post it for 2 reasons: first, Bill Gertz, who is very professional in every way, always seems to draw the more dire conclusions about how "bad" everything is. I find his cheerless and dreary - and generally hope that he's wrong on most of his "sound-the-alarm" pieces.

Secondly, I declined to post it because of its sheer length. While it does present what appears to be a thorough analysis of China's overtly expansionist intentions, I generally try to avoid posting excerpts from articles which then turn out to be interminable, once the reader clicks on the link.

I agree, though, that this is not a subject to be ignored. China poses a giant quandary for America on many levels.

Thanks for the ping!

Char :)

[Strategerist]

Bill Gertz, who is very professional in every way, always seems to draw the more dire conclusions about how "bad" everything is.

Well, he's turning into Joseph Farah.

Also, he's giving his audience (much of which you see on FR) what they want.

The LAST thing his audience wants is an objective analysis of the PRC military.