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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Get Ready: China Could Pull a 'Crimea' in Asia |
| 2015-04-11 |
| [The National Interest] Zhang Wenmu is a major fixture of the Chinese foreign policy debate. Unlike many of his colleagues in the Beijing foreign policy scene, he does not frequent seminars and workshops with Western counterparts. He has remained noticeably apart from the "jet-set" of Beijing talking heads that are racking up thousands of airline miles with monthly visits to various think tanks in Washington. Toiling away at Beihang University (previously the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics), he lacks the academic pedigree of more famous Chinese strategists at Tsinghua, Peking, or Fudan Universities. But maybe this has only increased his reputation as a "real Chinese strategist" that refuses to be dazzled and charmed by Western institutions and doctrines. (Recommended: Taiwan's Master Plan to Crush China in Battle) Zhang has unquestionably left a mark on Chinese strategy in the new century. He was one of China's first genuine "navalists," calling for Beijing to build an aircraft carrier well before other scholars were willing to get behind the new approach. His 2009 book On Chinese Sea Power argues that Chinese global commercial power must have a formidable navy to support it, which may one day earn him the title of "China's Mahan." But even though many of Zhang's ideas now seem like conventional wisdom among Chinese strategists, he still has a unique approach and will occasionally articulate positions that go quite against the grain. For example, in 2009 he cautioned that China should avoid any major involvement in the South China Sea dispute, observing that such an approach might distract from the central goal of unification with Taiwan. (Recommended: Watch Out, China: Japan Readies Test of New Stealth Fighter Jet) Zhang continues to be a prolific writer. A lengthy essay of his appeared in a late 2014 issue of the prestigious Chinese academic journal International Politics. The essay was being republished, suggesting its importance. Its title is "The Meaning of the Ukraine Events for the World and also their Warning to China." |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #2 I think he is wrong about the South China Sea. China dependent on oil from the Gulf, which could go hot at any time. Indications are there is enough oil and gas in the SCS to replace their Gulf import, and who is going to stop them? |
| Posted by: phil_b 2015-04-11 17:42 |
| #1 Asia Pivot - yet anther Obama/Clinton success story! |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2015-04-11 14:33 |