Beijing Rejects Pentagon Report(ya, China is not a military rival and I am a Sasquatch)

LA Times ^ | 02/07/06 | ALEXA OLESEN

[TigerLikesRooster]

Beijing Rejects Pentagon Report

By ALEXA OLESEN, Associated Press Writer

BEIJING -- China said Tuesday it has formally complained to Washington over a Pentagon report that calls China a potential military threat, and the foreign ministry accused the United States of trying to mislead public opinion.

The report, released Friday, expressed concerns about Beijing's rising military spending to project power beyond China's borders.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said the report made "groundless accusations regarding the normal national defense development in China, interferes with China's domestic affairs and plays up the theory of the Chinese military threat, thereby misleading public opinion."

Kong said China had made "solemn representations to the U.S. side," without providing details.

"We are an important force that promotes the peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region and the world," Kong said. "We have not, do not and will not pose a threat."

[TigerLikesRooster]

Dear Chicomm guys,

Please stop claiming that China is not a military rival of U.S.. If you are not, then people can claim that I am a Sasquatch and get away with it. Do not set a disturbing precedent. The world is already a nutty place without your absurd promotion.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Ping!

[Joe Boucher]

China is our enemy. If you don't understand this, you have your head up your butt.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #3

Maybe I should have put sarcasm tag to avoid potential misunderstanding.:-)

[ChinaThreat]

I would call us advesaries at this point. We are on the path to full blown enemies though.

[Kuehn12]

Dear Rummy:

There are going to be rivals to our superpower status, however using language like threat is a form of psychological warfare. It puts in the mind of the US public the notion "China Bad, America Good", as well as that China is poised to attack us at anytime. It is subtle form of propaganda to make our potentials enemies look more menacing than they are. We spend four to five times what China spends on military equipment and training. Their navy is tiny compared to ours in both size and capability. Even by their own measure they won't be a moderately size power until the middle of this century. China also has only deployed their soldiers in peacekeeping and natural resource capacities. I AM NOT SAYING THAT THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT ISN'T EVIL AND THE MOST OPPRESSIVE IN THE WORLD, but I am saying we don't know yet the shape and mission the Chinese Military will take, and that China's military will never meet our militaries capability. OH, WE WILL HAVE TO SHARE THIS PLANET SOME DAY WITH COUNTRIES EVERY BIT AS POWERFUL AS WE ARE, AND WE MUST NOT AUTOMATICALLY SEE THEM AS THREATS. EVIDENCE MUST BACK UP OUR ACCUSATIONS.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #6

China is not into sharing. So you should be ready for their moves. China first started this rivalry business back in Clinton days. Remember the remark of nuking LA?

[Williams]

First you said China is no where near as strong as us, then you said we have to share the planet with others just as powerful as us. Which is it and who said so? Let's get specific. Communist China is a potential enemy which we have already fought in a major war (Korea), and which is openly preparing to seize a democratic ally of ours by force (Taiwan).

[Tyche]

FAS has a lot of great info on China.
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/china/doctrine/index.html

The book by PLA Colonels are a great read on how nice China is:

http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/china/doctrine/unresw1.htm
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/china/doctrine/unresw2.htm
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/china/doctrine/WEBRES3.htm
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/china/doctrine/WEBRES4.htm

[canuck_conservative]

Communist China also has a large and active spying operation ongoing in the US and other Western countries, trying to get their hands on any economic and military secrets they can, to turn around and use against us.

Not exactly the behavior of a "benign" country, is it?

[Thunder90]

Watch out for china's friend, Russia.

[NearlyNormal]

Neither China nor Russia nor India need to match us $ for $ in defensive (offensive ?) spending to pose the kind of threat about which Rummy is concerned.

All these nations need to do is modernize what they have, maintain the trade deficit, and watch closely for the liberal "American" politicians, educators, lawyers and their MSM to do enough internal damage to our blessed country to bring us down to their level or lower.

Frankly, if the "REAL" conservative politicians of this nation don't find their cojones soon, it'll just be a race to see which of these three, or islam, will take the first blow.

[Kuehn12]

This was an abstract idea, that some time in the future there might be country that equals us in power, and we will have to deal with them as equals. It might be India, and if so we will face country with the same system politically and economically. What do we do then, demonize them, except them as an equal? I bring up the underlying notion that America has to be the dominate power in the world. Can we just be one of many nations or do we have to be the BIG KID ON THE BLOCK?

[Kuehn12]

Everyone spies, don't fool yourself keeping secrets and stealing everyone else is the way of the world. China lacks technology and the patients to develop it on their own, so they will go out and steal it. I don't fault them for trying given a cost/benefit analysis. Take a giant leap in technology now versus waiting for your own technology to catch up with the west, if it ever could.

Question, When in recent history have the Chinese turn any weapon on us indigenous or otherwise? You make it sound like we are already at war with them.

[dvwjr]

The US has to remain the "BIG KID ON THE BLOCK" since the only three other major power groupings: The European Union, India and China which are are governmentally incompetent, corrupt and dictatorial respectively.

Then Indians are trying, but still have a modern nation the size of the United States submerged in a poverty-level nation four times its size. The Chinese will be a threat as long as they maintain a communist/fascist government. The European Union has not congealed into a "United States of Europe" and worry more about rules punishing those who sell British meat by the pound instead of the kilogram...

We need to lap these turkeys and stay ahead of the game...


dvwjr

[Williams]

At the moment we are the big kid on the block, and I have no desire to see China equal us. As for how other countries will treat us when they are as powerful, well if it's England we won't do too badly. If it's communist China the world may well be a nightmare. If it's India I don't know, but they would be less of a worry based on past and present behavior.

Apparently you think that by recognizing China as a potential enemy, we will get less favorable treatment in the future. It doesn't work that way. We can't retreat in the present thinking we'll be treated better "someday."

[Kuehn12]

I am speaking about language and it power to shape perception, calling someone your enemy over and over creates the image to the public of an aggressive China. China now and the what China will become is an important process. We still don't know the direction they will go, but we have to look as though we see a bright future even though in private we are preparing for the worse case. Presenting a constructive framework which business like and civil will calm both sides. Theodore Roosevelt "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick". The art and practice of diplomacy has been lost in the age of the instant sound bites.