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freethought
Joined: 13 Mar 2005
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 4:00 pm Post subject: The China Boogeyman |
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About a year ago I remember reading an edition of Atlantic Monthly that focussed on the 'real threat'. That threat wasn't OBL or Islamic terrorism, but China.
While doing my MA, I read a number of stories that took similar positions; China was a threat that must be dealt with. Some argued that Iraq was diverting attention from a far graver military threat. Others argued that China was mainly an economic threat, but most of those articles also either advocated, or refused to rule out, military action to stem the tide of Chinese power and growth.
This gradually changed to include dialogues that discussed the threats 'post' Iraq; with Iraq either being lost or won, depending on the author/article.
But of late I've seen a new trend emerged, and this is just the most recent example. It's a matter of trying to tie Chinese success to the suffering of it's neighbours, in some cases suffering orchestrated and engineered by China.
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200705/200705210024.html
So my question to this forum, is do you view China as this threat that is passing under the radar? Militarily? Economically? In any shape or form, really. |
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jinju
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 4:36 pm Post subject: |
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My views on China are probably well known here.
I view China as the single biggest threat in the 21st century as well as the nexus of evil.
It is no secret that China's overall influence on the world stage has bee negative. Whether it is Chinas support of the most vile dictatorship in the world (DPRK), its support for governments that engage in mass scale genocide (Sudan), its oppression of its own people, its vile One China Policy, China is an evil that must be confronted. |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 5:10 pm Post subject: |
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I do not see China as a threat. The more integrated into the world economy she becomes, the more stable the world will be.
China does not have worldwide hegemonic ambitions, but does have regional ambitions. The United States needs to walk a fine line in Asia. |
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contrarian
Joined: 20 Jan 2007 Location: Nearly in NK
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 6:03 pm Post subject: |
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Since WWII China has had a large number of imperialistic territorial seizures.
1. Tibet.
2. When the UN got close to China in the Korean War the Chinese came into it. Now the Chinese calim the Corgoyeo were Chinese. Whhn NK collapses my bets are on CHina trying to grab huge portions of NK.
3. Taiwan. They still claim it, even if the people there don;t want want to be calimed.
4. India and Pakistan have both paid the price of Chinese territorial exlansion.
5. Burma has been a minor Victim.
6. The invaded North Viet Nam - and got their butts handed to them.
7. They have had armed border incidents with the old USSR in many areas.
8. They have some disputed Islands with Japan
9. They claim some islands, that might have oil, in an area closer to Viet Nam and the Phillipines.
10. They are even making claims in Mongolia.
The Chinese are a very big threat. They are also vulnerable. Their economy could very easily be "prompted" to crash and burn. Do it now rather than later, it will be easier. |
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jinju
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 6:14 pm Post subject: |
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I agree. crash china. It is a threat that needs to be neutralized ASAP. |
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freethought
Joined: 13 Mar 2005
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 6:27 pm Post subject: |
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"crash China"? What does that mean? How many people will be killed in the process? Moreover, we've seen how well crashing Iraq has gone, so why not give it another try...
As for the list of territorial claims and issues China has raised. A more expansive list can be made for the United States, so that really isn't a good way of judging 'threat level'. More importantly, China currently is making excellent progress in it's relations with India.
My stance for as long as I remember has been that China should be included, rather than excluded or attacked.
Those (jinju) who advocate 'crashing China', are you gonna join up with armed forces to crash it?--- keeping in mind I still am not sure what the hell 'crashing china' means. |
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friendofIgnatius J.

Joined: 20 Aug 2006
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 7:02 pm Post subject: disproportiate power |
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The problem is that China is still a developing nation (really poor). But its political and economical clout are disproportionate to its actual state of development. Compounding this problem is the fact that this power is wielded by a highly centralized clique.
Cheers |
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jinju
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 7:02 pm Post subject: |
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Crash them economically. |
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Octavius Hite

Joined: 28 Jan 2004 Location: Househunting, looking for a new bunker from which to convert the world to homosexuality.
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 8:01 pm Post subject: |
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Quote: |
Crash them economically. |
Jinju makes his own socks and underwear at home so as not to support the commie hoards. I can see him sitting at home and in between his bunker building he spends a few hours a day knitting his tighty whities. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 5:00 am Post subject: |
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China's too heavy on exports
Samuelson wrote: |
Personal consumption spending is a meager 38 percent of GDP; that's half the U.S. rate of 70 percent...
...The surplus of personal savings, supplemented by business savings and foreign capital, means that Chinese and multinational firms can build more factories -- and that raises the need to export. A low currency thus serves two roles: as an inducement to attract foreign investment, and as a tool to balance the economy and to check popular discontent. But for the rest of the world, the consequences are potentially threatening. As China moves up the technology chain, it may become the low-cost export platform for more and more industries. This could divert production from the rest of Asia, Europe, Latin America and the United States. |
I don't know what can be done about this. But the Yuan is kept high by fiat, and no free-trader should be happy about that. |
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stevemcgarrett

Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 8:30 am Post subject: |
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Octavius wrote:
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Jinju makes his own socks and underwear at home so as not to support the commie hoards. I can see him sitting at home and in between his bunker building he spends a few hours a day knitting his tighty whities. |
Jinju:
You're beginning to sound like an ultra-rightist in Japan or the long lost nephew of Pat Buchanan. Get back to us when you have a clue what you're talking about when it comes to China. |
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Roch
Joined: 24 Apr 2003 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 10:26 am Post subject: |
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jinju wrote: |
My views on China are probably well known here.
I view China as the single biggest threat in the 21st century as well as the nexus of evil.
It is no secret that China's overall influence on the world stage has bee negative. Whether it is Chinas support of the most vile dictatorship in the world (DPRK), its support for governments that engage in mass scale genocide (Sudan), its oppression of its own people, its vile One China Policy, China is an evil that must be confronted. |
Word!! |
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jinju
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 1:36 pm Post subject: |
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stevemcgarrett wrote: |
Octavius wrote:
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Jinju makes his own socks and underwear at home so as not to support the commie hoards. I can see him sitting at home and in between his bunker building he spends a few hours a day knitting his tighty whities. |
Jinju:
You're beginning to sound like an ultra-rightist in Japan or the long lost nephew of Pat Buchanan. Get back to us when you have a clue what you're talking about when it comes to China. |
Thanks Steve, I do believe your relationship is blinding you to the obvious, but thats whats great about love, isnt it? |
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stevemcgarrett

Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 7:14 pm Post subject: |
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jinju wrote:
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I do believe your relationship is blinding you to the obvious, but thats whats great about love, isnt it? |
Uh, no it doesn't. As I've often said, I despise the government in Beijing but I've spent enough time in country to have a good sense of what the military is capable of doing and what its leaders are willing to let it do.
The only territorial ambition--if you can call it that--is Taiwan. And I doubt they could at this stage launch a successful amphibious assault.
Look, guys, fact is that the Chinese are so disorganized (coordinating efforts is a major struggle) they couldn't find their way out of a cereal box.
The military is still very deficient in basic equipment despite lots of spending. Their air force has no combat experience and the planes are of inferior quality. Their navy, while improving, is still a coastal force.
More importantly, the leadership is so tied up with domestic unrest, especially from the peasantry, which still comprise more than two-thirds of the populace, that they can't think beyond their own borders.
Economically, the national banks are in a tenuous position, being state supported and engaged in antiquated practices. The Shanghai stock market could burst at any moment, speculation running rampant there. The influx of tens of millions of floating workers into the big cities have created shanty towns and the hukou registration system is breaking down.
At some point the trade imbalance must correct itself for the sake of preventing an overheated economy. China has far too much invested in trade and finance with the U.S. and APEC to even contemplate military solutions, with the notable exception of Taiwan, which it views as sovereign territory, a renegade province, and a test of national pride. |
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contrarian
Joined: 20 Jan 2007 Location: Nearly in NK
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 11:35 pm Post subject: |
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I don't care what China considers Taiwan. If the peope there don't want the PRC that is all the matters. Give Taiwan a few nukes and the PRC will take a different view.
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