China Warns U.S.: War or Peace

China is warning the United States to make a choice between South Korea and Taiwan. The warning is a veiled threat of a choice between war and peace in Asia.

On Dec. 9, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is scheduled to visit the White House. Wen is expected to demand that the U.S. end its support of Taiwan. If no such U.S. cooperation is forthcoming, then China is threatening to impose stiff tariffs on U.S.-made goods and to cancel the five-way peace talks with North Korea.

China also told Taiwan it ran the risk of war if it pushed toward independence. Beijing wants to prevent the Taiwanese from voting on a choice between joining the communist mainland or seeking independence.

The official China Daily stated that U.S.-Sino relations were at an all-time high but added that the relationship was being risked by "renegade" forces. The China Daily also said China and America shared trade and strategic interests that were being threatened by the move toward independence in Taiwan.

"The ambiguous U.S. strategy across the Taiwan Straits only serves to encourage the island's separatists and jeopardize the one-China policy as well as the political foundation of Sino-U.S. relations," stated the Chinese diplomats.

China also warned the United States to stop selling weapons to Taiwan and to honor its commitment to the "one-China" policy.

"Only by doing so can the interests of both China and the United States be safeguarded and peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits be maintained," stated the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman.

Despite the warning, the Taiwanese Parliament passed a bill allowing the people to vote in an open election to choose between communist rule and independence. The warning from Beijing also brought swift reaction from U.S. sources.

"There are now two rapidly intersecting dangers for Taiwan and America. First, the PRC [People’s Republic of China, or communist China] appears to be preparing for some kind of use of force in the wake of the Taiwan Referendum bill's passage. It could be intimidation, or it could also be much worse," stated Rick Fisher, a Senior Fellow at the Jamestown Foundation.

"Second, there are forces in the Bush White House who believe that use of force against Taiwan, or indeed a war, can be avoided by giving Beijing a concession, let’s say publicly disavowing U.S. protection for Taiwan if it pursues independence," stated Fisher.

"On top of all else, we now have the prospects for a real crisis on the Taiwan Strait. It is also necessary more than ever that the U.S. stand firm and not buckle in the face of threats by dictators. No amount of concessions by the U.S. can stop the war for which China is preparing against Taiwan. We have to make crystal clear to the Communist dictators in Beijing that their dictatorship will end if they kill the democracy on Taiwan. If we can't make that message stick, then America will suffer enormous consequences," concluded Fisher.

Despite the harsh rhetoric from Beijing, there is ample evidence that China is unwilling to adhere to any peace agreements. For over a decade China has stated that it would live up to its treaty commitments and not export ballistic missile technology.

China was sanctioned by the Bush Sr. administration in 1992 for selling nuclear-tipped M-11 missiles to Pakistan. The Clinton administration lifted most of the sanctions in 1993 and 1994 after Beijing agreed to cease its exports.

However, China did not stop selling M-11 missiles to Pakistan and began to expand its exports to include Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Afghanistan and North Korea. Although the Clinton administration warned China to adhere to its international treaties, the White House did nothing to sanction Beijing for the missile sales.

In June 2003, President George W. Bush imposed strict sanctions against China for exporting ballistic missile parts and technology to Iran. The sanctions include a total ban on imports from Norinco, a major Chinese arms company, and a continuation of the ban on satellite and space technology sales to Beijing.

The Central Intelligence Agency's most recent report to Congress has painted an alarming picture of growing ballistic missile capabilities among American adversaries, fueled by Beijing.

The CIA report, which covers international ballistic missile developments from January to June 2003, lists Iran, North Korea and Libya as primary states of missile concern.

Iran, the report states, has continued to receive assistance in missile "equipment, technology, and expertise" from China, North Korea and Russia.

"Libya continued to depend on foreign assistance – particularly from Serbian, Indian, Iranian, North Korean, and Chinese entities – for its ballistic missile development programs," the report states.

According to the CIA, North Korea has advanced its long-range ballistic missile capabilities, and its "multiple-stage Taepo Dong-2 – capable of reaching parts of the United States with a nuclear weapon-sized payload – may be ready for flight-testing."

In addition to selling ballistic missile technology to Pyongyang, Beijing is also expected to share its space technology with North Korea.

The film-return capsule of the so-called "peaceful" Chinese FSW-18 satellite arrived on Earth on Nov. 21. The FSW-18 capsule was recovered by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in central Sichuan province after spending 18 days in space photographing Taiwan, Japan and the Korean peninsula.

The FSW-18, touted by Beijing as a peaceful civilian research satellite, was actually a medium-resolution Chinese army reconnaissance satellite. The images of Taiwanese, Japanese, South Korean and U.S. defenses are intended to update the PLA target database.

Beijing is expected to share the photographs with North Korean dictator Kim Jung-il. The photos will allow both China and North Korea to more accurately target missiles against allied forces in Asia.

War or Peace. MAn we really must be dumb to bankroll missiles aimed against us, missiles whose design is American (thank you Clinton!). Missiles that have nukes that are shared with our other enemies -- the Islamic nutcases. Clash of civilisations? Between the chicoms and their Islamofascist allies and America-Europe (minus France-Germany)-Russia-India-theAntipodes-Israel-S.America

It shouldn't be too hard to figure out that strained political relations with China will have repercussions in the trade as well as other areas. I still hope the day comes when all the free traitors that have helped oliterate our manufacturing in this country get their everlovin' a$$e$ kicked.

That's silly talk. It's not like us "free traitors" made a conscious decision to screw over the almight US manufacturing worker by buying foreign goods. It's just that most of us are capitalists that believe in getting the best bang for our buck. Overpriced shoddy American crap is not as good a deal as underpriced shoddy foreign crap.

Well good...be sure you let me know about all the money you've saved on your next purchase of a car, stove or refrigerator now that the tariffs are dropped. I'm sure these car dealers especially are going to drop their prices like crazy now that some of their steel costs will be lowered.....yeah keep on dreaming amigo. While you're at it, please enlighten me on all the $ you've obviously saved on shoes, shirts, pants, etc. that now cost 2-3 times what they did when those products were manufactured here in the states. How is it that clothes now manufactured with labor costs that are fraction of US workers, done in areas with no federal work regulations still are priced higher than ever?
In case you haven't figured it out yet, this free trade idiocy was never about lower consumer prices instead it's been about lowering the cost to manufacture goods while keeping prices artificially high and the increased profits go into the hands of multinational corporations who care nothing about the economic future of this country.

So, let's see what happens here. First we get hit the slamofascists and we have to get the other anti-slamofascists -- Russia, Israel, India, South-east Asia to fight with us. The Chicoms stay inscrutable and don't get involved. They still export tons of stuff and make a lot of money while the rest of the world fights the slamos. The only way they get hurt is due ot the oil price increases. To circumvent this they make a deal in Central Asia. After the slamo war is over -- when it is over, no matter WHO wins the war, the real winner will be the Chicoms. The same as WWII -- Poland, Russia, Germany lost tons of soldiers. In fact, most of mainland Europe lost millions of people. The English and American losses were comparatively light, not even a million for the US. America came out of the war as the only industrial power with it's industrial base intact, in fact booming after supplying manufactured stuff to the rest of the world. That's why we had an incredibly properous 50s,60s and early 70s

The same will happen to the Chicoms, they will be the real winners.

Just for your information, China is the #1 recipient of foreign investment in the whole world and gets 80% of all the investment that goes to Asia. Secondly, communist China and Vietnam are the two fastest-growing economies in Asia right now. All the other "one-party but still democratic" Asian countries are their biggest investors. And of course the most democratic country of them all, America, invests big-time in China too. So I guess all these countries are more compatible than you think! Isn't it ironic that these "communist dictatorships" should be attracting so much foreign investment? In fact, China's economic rise so far is the WHOLE reason China is even on anyone's radar screen right now. If China were a country in the middle of Africa with a population of 10 mil., nobody would even be paying attention to it, let alone feel all scared and threatened by it.

Secondly, communist China and Vietnam are the two fastest-growing economies in Asia right now

Errr.... No they aren't! I don't believe the chicom claptrap, with all gulag labour and overhyped numbers. All of China's economic figures are fudged to make the party look good -- standard Communist propaganda.

China's main export is nuclear weapons (that don't perform too consistently thank god -- the Pakis had embarassingly failures, probably chinese manufacture....)

China has exported nukes to Pakistan and North Korea and through them to Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iran and tentatively Saddam in Iraq.

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