In the last decade the People's Republic of China has built up exponentially. For one thing, all males ages 18-22 have compulsory military service. Since they have the largest population in the world, this in itself is a major threat to a country such as the United Sttates who has one of the smallest armies in comparison to its population. China has over three million soldiers ready and able to fight. (CIA Factbook). The United States and Asia as a whole should be concerned about thier buildup. They have been far from loyal allies. They are slow to act on issues with North Korea in terms of sanctions and other solidarity measures with the rest of the U.N. Security Council.
Few People realize it but the Chinese and the U.S. have been involved in a sort of arms race for a long time. In January 2007, China shot down one of its satellites from one of its naval ships because the satellite was decaying in orbit (Washington Post). The United States did the same later that year. AFter the advent of the United States Air Force F-22 Raptor, the Chinese worked on a similar project and have been running tests on an as of yet unnamed advanced aircraft. They are also close to developing their first super carrier. They already possess the ability to sink a United States super carrier according to the Pentagon.
The bottom-line is that very often the Chinese have different goals from the United States and they are reluctant to join the world community in facing difficult humanitarian issues outside and inside their borders. They have gone as far as to sanction cyber attacks upon the White House, Pentagon, and other governmetn agencies. We must be prepared to deal with this. Their national pride and strong military industrial complex will only get stronger as time goes on. We must have a more frank dialogue with them about this issue and prepare ourselves so we can have an effective means of deterrence and influencing things that go on in East Asia.
Sources: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/18/AR2007011801029.html
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html
-Rowland Coleman
While I agree with what you're saying about the ominous signals China gives in its reluctance to intervene in issues pressing the global social order, such as North Korea, I feel that the view you hold that China is pessimistic. Yes, they have been rapidly increasing their military power, but in a country that has amassed such wealth, and has foreign interests all over the world, why wouldn't they? The US built up its defenses in a similar way in the 1980s, because we wanted to protect our interests around the world, and China is merely doing the same; just because a country builds a carrier doesn't mean it's being built against the US.
ReplyDeleteAlso, relations between the US and China are very different from what they were in the early stages of the Cold war between the US and the USSR. I wouldn't even classify US-Sino relations as detente because they have always been rather open since the 1970s. This, among other things, has to do with the economic interdependence of the two nations. China supplies us, and we buy from them, for the most part. I think that simple economics is the one fail-safe in protecting ourselves from Chinese attack. Money is what makes the world go round, even in a "communist" country (what the US has to do to make China stop devaluating its currency is another story).
I also reject the notion that the entire Chinese population is behind the new Chinese form of defense and economic proliferation. Coastal cities in China have been flourishing in the past few decades, but rural peasants have seen deteriorating incomes and lower quality of life, as the income gap in China worsens. This, historically, has led to revolution, and it may perhaps force China into a "war" between its own people, which may cause them to seriously consider their form of government and their interests abroad.
Overall, China is certainly a nation that the US should keep its eye on, but for now I just don't see the immediate danger poised to us, at least militarily. Economically it's a whole new can of worms.