“Troubling”
Related: China Builds Secret Nuclear Submarine Base
Agencie France Presse:
CIA chief Michael Hayden charged Wednesday that China was beefing up its military with “remarkable speed and scope,” calling the buildup “troubling.”
The Chinese, he said, had fully absorbed the lessons of both Gulf wars, developing and integrating advanced weaponry into a modern military force.
Hayden said while Beijing’s new capabilities could pose a risk to US forces and interests in the region, the military modernization was as much about projecting strength as anything else.
“After two centuries of perceived Western hegemony, China is determined to flex its muscle,” he said in a speech at Kansas State University. “It sees an advanced military force as an essential element of great power status.”
But it is the intelligence community’s view that any Chinese regime, even a democratic one, will have similar national goals, said Hayden, once the highest-ranking military intelligence officer in the armed forces.
“Don’t misunderstand. The military buildup is troubling because it reinforces long-held concerns about Chinese intentions towards Taiwan,” he said.
“But even without that issue, we assess the buildup would continue — albeit one that might look somewhat different,” he said.
Taiwan and China split in 1949 at the end of a civil war, but Beijing still sees the island as part of its territory.
The United States, obliged by law to offer Taiwan a means of self-defense if its security is threatened, is the leading arms supplier to the island.
Hayden said even though China was a competitor in the economic realm and increasingly on the geopolitical stage, it was “not an inevitable enemy.”
“There are good policy choices available to both Washington and Beijing that can keep us on the largely peaceful, constructive path we’ve been on for almost 40 years now,” he said.
A Pentagon report said this year that China had boosted total military spending in 2007 to more than twice its declared budget.
The report raised concern over China’s expanding military power, including its development of cruise and ballistic missiles capable of striking aircraft carriers and other warships at sea, anti-satellite weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
China dismissed the Pentagon report as an exaggeration, made in order to justify US sales of military hardware to Beijing’s rival Taiwan.
The Pentagon estimated China’s total military spending in 2007 at between 97 and 139 billion dollars, more than double China’s declared budget of 45 billion dollars.
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The Chinese have always had one serious weakness, they have to feed a billion people and they have a limited ability to do it. Removing/destroying that ability ends any longterm war plans they might have.
May 1st, 2008 at 6:50 am
Jeff
May 1st, 2008 at 7:01 amExactly.
Don’t be naive to believe that China has not been considering the point of feeding their nation for quite some time. The rest of their money is being spent on infrastructure in roads and transportation to rival the US freeway system. Infrastructure is key to distribution and they are very serious about that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expressways_of_China
May 1st, 2008 at 7:28 amThey are solving their population problem by de-populating their country, quite frankly. I did some field work recently that involved two months in a tent with a Chinese national, and he wouldn’t talk about the fact that he and his wife are still restricted in how many kids they can have. (He did bitch endlessly about the “terrorist” Tibetans and how the western press “demonizes” poor, picked-on China!) A friend of mine who has been there recently said the place was teeming with young men but there were very few women, and the men had more money than they knew what to do with. What a bizarre place it must be right now.
Those are some interesting pics, there, Pat. I see something that looks like a line charge, some anti-aircraft vehicles with quad 14.5mm’s (?) and another vehicle. I’m not familiar with that other vehicle - it looks a lot like an LAV with an autocannon in a remote turret… I’m curious - what is that thing?
May 1st, 2008 at 8:15 amAgreed, the Chinese aren’t sitting by watching this problem without working to solve it, especially when it comes to road contruction.
The problem is with food production. As the following article shows, they are already stretched pretty thin: http://www.lincolninst.edu/pubs/PubDetail.aspx?pubid=913
The U.S. has the ability to grow enough to feed our citizens several times over, the Chinese cannot. The center of our ‘US vs China’ war plan in the ’60s, was the destruction of the Chinese farm belt. With their population much larger today and the decline in farming area due to non-agricultural development, I’d guess our ’60s plan is still a pretty good one, maybe more so than back then.
May 1st, 2008 at 8:25 amI agree but still, knowing a problem is the the first step to defeating it. I’m sure they are looking into ways of getting food. Even then they are connected to Russia. Vlad would be more than happy to sell food to stab us in the back. Either way we better have a back up plan to Operation : Burnt Rice.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:12 amOperation : Burnt Rice
I like it
May 1st, 2008 at 10:18 am“the place was teeming with young men but there were very few women”
they used to kill the girls at birth, they were considerated as a “malediction”, cause the poor families could not afford to rise girls because of the “dot” they had to assure for their marriage ; if no money at home, then no girl.
the Mr Menard that has made a great case of the Dalai whinnings for an autonome Tibet, is also intronished by Taiwan… note quite an uncorrupted state too
May 1st, 2008 at 10:56 amTroubling? Is that all?! Let me know when it reaches “spooky” status.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:51 pmWe must worry the Chinese will one day march westwards for both food and oil and with all those young men their army will just get bigger and bigger, here come the Asian hordes.
May 1st, 2008 at 1:43 pmChinese hordes=lots of target practise.
May 1st, 2008 at 4:26 pmNot so secret nuclear sub base+target practise.
Where’s the Chinese smiley face icon? Sure could use one here, right now!
Its all moot. they have no “Force Projection” yea they are a regional power but htye don’t have the ability like we do to tkae the fight overseas.
The most capable surface combatants in the PLAN service include 11 destroyers (four Sovremenny class, two Type 052C Luyang-II class, two Type 052B Luyang class, one Type 051B Luhai class, and two Type 052 Luhu class); and 16 frigates (two Type 054 Jiangkai class, ten Type 053H3 Jiangwei-II class, four Type 053H2G Jiangwei class). Two Type 051C Luyang class destroyers and at least one Type 054A Jiangkai-II class frigate are due to be delivered by 2007~08, which bring the total figure to 30. There are also 18 older Type 051 Luda class destroyers and around 30 Type 053 Jianghu class frigates, some of which may no longer be in active service. A second-hand aircraft carrier purchased from Ukraine is currently under refit at Dalian.
http://www.sinodefence.com/navy/default.asp
call me when they acquire one of these
May 1st, 2008 at 7:10 pmhttp://www.knowledgerush.com/wiki_image/5/50/Carrier.arp.250pix.jpg