Nothing to see here...move along

The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy. – Sun Tzu

So it appears that our ‘friends’ the Chinese have been busy. While the rest of the world has been looking toward the Middle East, the Chinese seem to be wasting little time in building up military strength and tactical efficiency. Here are a few things that concern me about our giant neighbor:

Let’s start with this article concerning the Chinese shooting down one of their satellites. Perhaps this was a not-so-subtle reply to the changes in our National Space Policy where there looks to be a notable shift toward emphasizing security issues over the previous scientific. Our policy now also asserts the right to deny access to space to anyone “hostile to U.S. interest”. Hmm.

After reading this article, I decided to step out onto that ‘information superhighway’ and see just what one redneck, of average intelligence, could find out about the Chinese.

My first stop was the Annual Report to Congress – Military Power of the People’s Republic of China. This is a rather lengthy report, but it is an eye opener on how far China has come and where we surmise they plan to go. Here are a few interesting excerpts from the report:

“The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is in the process of long-term transformation from a mass army designed for protracted wars of attrition on its territory to a more modern force capable of fighting short duration, high intensity conflicts against high-tech adversaries. Today, China’s ability to sustain military power at a distance is limited. However, as the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review Report notes, “China has the greatest potential to compete militarily with the United States and field disruptive military technologies that could over time offset traditional U.S. military advantages.”

“China’s leaders have yet to adequately explain the purposes or desired end-states of their military expansion. Estimates place Chinese defense expenditure at two to three times officially disclosed figures. The outside world has little knowledge of Chinese motivations and decision-making or of key capabilities supporting PLA modernization.”

“PLA amphibious exercises and training in 2005 focused on Taiwan. In September 2005 the PLA held one large-scale, multi-service exercise that dealt explicitly with a Taiwan invasion. China has conducted 11 amphibious exercises featuring a Taiwan scenario in the past 6 years.”

“China continues to employ covert and illegal means to acquire foreign military and dual use technology. Individuals allegedly engaged in illicit technology transfers to China were arrested in the United States and Russia in the fall of 2005.”

On second thought, look here, there are just too many interesting quotes from that report. You are just going to have to go and read it for yourself.

Once you have read that, you can bounce on over to here and see what the Council on Foreign Relations has to say about a Chinese threat.

You put all of this together and I think we need to be keeping more than a casual eye on our Communist 'friends'. While I don’t think that China is an immediate threat to the U.S. mainland, connecting the dots looks to be drawing a giant arrow at Taiwan (or is it a middle finger?). The massive build up is not, in my opinion, an overkill Taiwanese engagement stratagem, but , in part, a hedge to keep America in check when they do decide to take back their wicked step children. Let’s also not forget that China is a monstrous consumer of resources and I think she has her eye on more than just Taiwan (second reason). Last but not least, let us keep in mind that she is a communist country and that she has a lot of folks to keep in line. Peaceably pacified, I think they title it. To put a satyrical face on the name PLA (Peoples Liberation Army) I think of Monty Python and the Holy Grail when Lancelot (PLA) comes to liberate his brother in arms Sir Galahad (the people) from the Castle Anthrax.

To keep this particular post from getting long and to keep from getting pissed off (currently in a good mood), I won’t even talk about the free up-skirts we have been giving China in all manner of military, tactical, and security issues. I will save that for another day.

Talk to ya soon.