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2005-12-12 China-Japan-Koreas

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Posted by john 2005-12-12 14:51|| || Front Page|| [3 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 There are two ways of looking at this. The first is out of concern that China is doing something dangerous. The other is to objectively ask what the Chinese should do, no matter who was in charge.

That is, China is clearly desirous of leaving its isolationist box and joining the rest of the world. Many of its historical problems originate from this isolationism, which is just plain unacceptable in the modern world.

So how does China come out? Trade opened the door. Vast amounts of goods flow in and out of China today. To support this, the Chinese had to build a massive merchant marine. To support this merchant marine, the Chinese had to build a deep water navy and invest in far-flung transportation corridors and installations.

At this point, their actions become indistinguishable from a military build-up. Their emergence cannot be sanely looked at as anything else by the other world powers, and for the sole reason that pressure must be met with pressure they must match this build-up, creating a greater possibility for conflict.

This means that the rest of the world has a very hard time distinguishing between what would be good for China and the world as a whole, and what is a threat for the future.

China wants to internationalize, but to keep its domestic standards, many of which are intolerable to international standards. So begins a delicate balancing act of incremental domestic change in China. It is a frightening prospect for the Chinese leaders, and a miscalculation could prove deadly.

Liberalization does not happen overnight, but it must happen. China cannot enter the world yet remain what it had been without destructive results. But if they liberalize too fast, they deeply fear chaos.

Can China even exist, or be managed, with less than authoritarian means? A good question. Can it continue on its present internal course without collapse? Also a good question. Lastly, will it seek some solution to its internal problem by becoming militarily aggressive? That is the biggest question of them all.

Posted by Anonymoose 2005-12-12 16:32|| 2005-12-12 16:32|| Front Page Top

#2 Here's an interesting solution. America should tell China that if it initiates hostilities with any other nation, including Taiwan, we will instantly cancel all debt held by the communists in the form of US treasury bonds. Make any military action upon their part prohibitively expensive. I doubt such a move would permanently taint the appeal of American treasury notes as a stable investment for other foreign powers.

Posted by Zenster 2005-12-12 17:41|| 2005-12-12 17:41|| Front Page Top

#3 China is rapidly expanding its influence from Asia to Africa. The âpearlsâ in Africa include Sudan, Angola, Algeria, Gabon, Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Djibouti, Mali, Central Africa, Liberia, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of Congo

I suspect this comes as a complete surprise to the US State Department.

Posted by Besoeker 2005-12-12 21:29|| 2005-12-12 21:29|| Front Page Top

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