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China-Japan-Koreas
WaTimes: Two Part Special Report on China's Military
2005-07-08
Part 1: Chinese dragon awakens
China is building its military forces faster than U.S. intelligence and military analysts expected, prompting fears that Beijing will attack Taiwan in the next two years, according to Pentagon officials.

U.S. defense and intelligence officials say all the signs point in one troubling direction: Beijing then will be forced to go to war with the United States, which has vowed to defend Taiwan against a Chinese attack.

China's military buildup includes an array of new high-technology weapons, such as warships, submarines, missiles and a maneuverable warhead designed to defeat U.S. missile defenses. Recent intelligence reports also show that China has stepped up military exercises involving amphibious assaults, viewed as another sign that it is preparing for an attack on Taiwan.

"There's a growing consensus that at some point in the mid-to-late '90s, there was a fundamental shift in the sophistication, breadth and re-sorting of Chinese defense planning," said Richard Lawless, a senior China-policy maker in the Pentagon. "And what we're seeing now is a manifestation of that change in the number of new systems that are being deployed, the sophistication of those systems and the interoperability of the systems."
...more...

Part 2: Thefts of U.S. technology boost China's weaponry
China is stepping up its overt and covert efforts to gather intelligence and technology in the United States, and the activities have boosted Beijing's plans to rapidly produce advanced-weapons systems.

"I think you see it where something that would normally take 10 years to develop takes them two or three," said David Szady, chief of FBI counterintelligence operations.

He said the Chinese are prolific collectors of secrets and military-related information.

"What we're finding is that [the spying is] much more focused in certain areas than we ever thought, such as command and control and things of that sort," Mr. Szady said.

"In the military area, the rapid development of their 'blue-water' navy -- like the Aegis weapons systems -- in no small part is probably due to some of the research and development they were able to get from the United States," he said.

The danger of Chinese technology acquisition is that if the United States were called on to fight a war with China over the Republic of China (Taiwan), U.S. forces could find themselves battling a U.S.-equipped enemy.
...more...
Posted by:.com

#7  Man, .com, imagine the possibilities! Plus, "unemployment" would've been low in all the trailer parks he was cruisin'. You're right, lost opportunities!
Posted by: BA   2005-07-08 13:02  

#6  Sigh. Just think, BA, how much cheaper (and safer for the US) it would've been if we'd merely kept ol' Bill supplied with hookers dressed as Interns. Sure, during Camelot II, it would've prevented the China Sellout, but that would've never happened or been necessary if we'd figured it out back when he was chasing skirts in ArkoAmerica. Coulda kept the clown smiling right up to the heart attack that finishes him off, cheap! And no Hillary. What a deal. Lost Opportunities.
Posted by: .com   2005-07-08 11:51  

#5  Well said, Ed, but I agree with CG6152. We may be seeing the beginning of the end. There have been at least 2 reports of "accidents" with new technology in the Chinese Navy lately. I don't think it'll be anytime soon (their collapse), but maybe another "arms race" is just what we need to make 'em collapse (a'la Reagan and the Soviets)? They are in a much better position than the Soviets in that we GAVE them a lot of this technology (thanks, Bill).
Posted by: BA   2005-07-08 11:20  

#4  The Soviets stole what they could, but the Chinese are in a league all by themselves. In addition, the "West" never wholesale sold technology, plants, and materiel to the Soviets in exchage for consumer goods. If we did, much of the world would be communist and the Soviets, instead of dissolving, would be at the top.

In addition to stolen weapons designs (e.g. W88 warheads), their have been very shortsighted sales (esp in the 1990's) such as machinery to build one piece fighter aircraft wings, tech help to improve the reliability of their ICBMs space launchers, etc. Marx may have been right with his observation that "The Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them". He just was wrong as to the buyer.
Posted by: ed   2005-07-08 10:45  

#3  He said the Chinese are prolific collectors of secrets and military-related information.

And the Soviets weren't?

My bet is that they collapse internally before they can do much harm beyond Taiwan. Taiwan will be their Falklands, the last gasp of a failing government trying to redirect attention during the usual and painful downturn in any economy.
Posted by: Chavish Grilet6152   2005-07-08 10:18  

#2  U.S. forces could find themselves battling a U.S.-equipped enemy

No, we could find ourselves fighting a US technology stolen and retrofited enemy. Get it right dumbass. Oh, and thank you Mr. Clinton for letting China steal our shit and not doing a thing about it, except sending more shit for them to steal.
Posted by: mmurray821   2005-07-08 09:19  

#1  Wake up call, please.

This has been out there for a while. Gertz knows this stuff cold.

Com, good job of editing on this. Thanks.
Posted by: Captain America   2005-07-08 08:56  

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