China Rapidly Modernizes for War With U.S.

Newsmax ^ | August 2004 | Alexandr Nemets

[risk]

The Taiwanese could stop them by themselves pretty well, without us lifting a finger, IMHO.

That's incredibly naive.

[nmh]

One of the problems if you will is that lowered taxes just fuel more appetite for their cheap products hindering the balance of trade all the more. We're in quite a pickle.

[risk]

We need to bring back the Harley Davidson culture of building it better, cheaper, and then market it as American!

[Walkingfeather]

Seriously... to what point? turn us all into rice harvesting zombies? I dont get it. Capitalism is growing faster in China than anywhere....

[risk]

Capitalism is growing faster in China than anywhere....

The problem is that it's state capitalism. Think "Nazi Germany." They have their sights set on Taiwan, and are encroaching on third world targets such as Latin America and Africa. The ChiComs are using the North Korean nuke problem as a bargaining chip over Taiwan. What sort of a freedom-loving country would do such a thing?

Think: Peace in Our Time.

[Ptarmigan]

You can't trust China. Koreans know that first hand.

[risk]

So do the Japanese.

[sevry]

China has become the major force for diplomacy in the far east.

You mean the diplomacy of threatening to attack Taiwan, which they say is just a 'province' of the Chicoms - shades of Saddam and Kuwait? THAT diplomacy?

[Ptarmigan]

Yes, them too. Japan has a long history of invading Korea. Koreans never like the Japanese for what they did. Japan during World War II did some horrible things to Koreans, like rape, enslave, torture, and murder. You don't hear about that today. I know this a lot because my parents grew up in South Korea.

[TapTheSource]

"Capitalism is growing faster in China than anywhere...."

No, the Communists are using us to build Communism...just like Lenin did during the New Economic Policy. The Communists are just providing us slave labor. They will not let a middle class develop under any circumstances because that could lead to a genuine challenge to Communist rule. The only middle class you see developing in Red China is among the Communist bosses themselves. When the time comes, all Chinese who have been tainted by doing business with the West will be jailed or liquidated (again, just as the Soviets did when the wrapped up the NEP).

[nmh]

Good idea BUT we are NOT competitive, price wise.

People are unwilling to pay 2-3 times as much for an item that maybe made better elsewhere.

[TapTheSource]

"The ChiComs are using the North Korean nuke problem as a bargaining chip over Taiwan."

You are absolutely correct. We are witnessing the Asian version of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Remember how that concluded? We allowed a Communist regime remain in Cuba a mere 90 miles from our shores in exchange for getting rid of a few missiles. Most think that Kennedy's handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis was a great victory, but in reality it was a resounding defeat.

[rimmont]

Nuclear deterrence can work both ways. Would the United States risk getting involved in a war with China if it invaded Taiwan? The bottome line is that China will not go the "war route" if it is not in China's interest to do so. If it IS in China's interest to use force, they will, if they have the means. That is why they are acquiring the means. Does that mean they will use force? No, not necessarily. But if they have acquired the means to use force then they have that option and, obviously, at that point it becomes a possibility. You see?

[risk]

You're right to mention the mistakes Japan made in the past. But I think today, South Koreans should be hopeful for peacful intentions and strategic support from Japan. I realize Japan will forever have an internal power struggle over fascism, but I think that's true everywhere. Today, Japan has a firm place in the west, as does South Korea. Both countries are our vanguard for freedom in the far east.

[Ptarmigan]

Park Chung-hee tried to mend fences with Japan in the 1960s to 1970s.

[TapTheSource]

"Nuclear deterrence can work both ways."

The Communists view nuclear deterance as a way to ensure all wars between them and "reactionary" capitalists go the way of Korea and Vietnam. They know they would lose in a direct military matchup. Although, that might change if the Eurasian Alliance starts bearing major fruit.

[risk]

The regime of Park Chung Hee ended with his assassination by the head of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency. The assassination was apparently provoked by Park's demand that the protests and riots be suppressed "even if it cost 30,000 lives." --Thayer Watkins, SJC Economics Department

[fallujah-nuker]

Thanks for the info, here is a URL with more info on Chinese maritime capability:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/china/stuft.htm

Here is more info on their shipbuilding capability:

China sets new record in shipbuilding in 2003
( 2004-01-06 14:17) (Xinhua)



China's shipbuilding sector built an estimated six million dead weight tons (DWT) of ships in 2003, a record high and up 46 percent year-on-year, an official source said Tuesday.

Zhang Guangqin, deputy director of China's Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, which oversees the shipbuilding sector, said the figure represented about a 10-percent share of the world's market.

The new ships Chinese shipyards built last year accounted for 18 percent of the world's total in terms of tonnage, as against 13 percent in the previous year, while new orders it clenched in 2003 totaled 18 million tons, up 173 percent, the official said.

The overall tonnage for orders the country's shipbuilding sector has yet to deliver stands at 25 million tons, an increase of 93 percent.

The deputy director noted that the country's shipbuilding sector would have to work at full capacity until the end of 2006 to deliver the ships ordered by its domestic and overseas clients.

"We do not have to worry about lack of work in the coming three years," said the official.

China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), the country's leading shipyard, built ships totaling 2.17 million tons in 2003, twice as much as that of the previous year. It also boasts a 253 percent year-on-year increase in total tonnage in newly-clenched orders to 8.7 million tons.

China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, another of the country 's shipbuilding giants, reported construction of ships totaling 1. 65 million tons, up 20 percent, with new ship orders it received in 2003 up 244 percent to 4.2 million tons.

To date, the shipyard has orders for new ships totaling seven million tons.

Local shipyards reported new ship orders of a combined 5.8 million dead weight tons.

CSSC began construction on the Changxing Shipbuilding Base on the Shanghai coast in 2003, which will be the largest shipyard of its kind in the world after the project is completed in 2015.

The base was built on Changxing Island with a water frontage of eight km. Its annual shipbuilding capacity would reach eight million tons when it is completed in 2015, said the CSSC president Chen Xiaojin.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2004-01/06/content_296141.htm

[rimmont]

All countries have interests. When those interests coincide or when one side is much weaker than the other you will have peace. When interests do not coincide, the differences are irreconcilable and there is not an overwhelmingly dominant power in the equation you will often have war. "Capitalism and free trade = peace" sounds great but it is nonsense.

[stefanbc]

The bottom line is that China will not go the "war route" if it is not in China's interest to do so. If it IS in China's interest to use force, they will, if they have the means
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you think China does not know what is in their interest?
Do you think they think actually invading Taiwan rather than just threatening to do so is in their interest? Do you think they haven't noticed all seven of our carrier battlegroups have assembled in the eastern Pacific this month as a 'little' show to impress them of our resolve? Do you imagine they have failed to notice the nuclear frigate we have just parked in the Sea of Japan off Korea? Suddenly the commies are making nice about 'the need for co-operation'. Uh huh, they durn well have noticed we're not pinned down in the Middle East with a blind eye to our interests in the Pacific Rim.

So I know this but Rumsfeld and Rice don't? Look people, our leaders are on this. Chill out we are in good hands with this team. Another gift from our great win in the election