Media Blackout on China Threat

International Affairs

Media Blackout on China Threat

Toby Westerman

There is a media blackout on the potential threat China poses to the United States. The Peoples' Republic of China remains a totalitarian regime, and America is the target of Beijing's short and long-range planning. America's economy, its government, its "way of life," will change forever should China achieve dominance over the U.S.

Big media disinterest in China spells danger for America, because events, developments, and trends directly affecting the safety and security of the American people are ignored.

Speaking in Seoul on February 3, Gen. Pace is optimistic about the US future with China - AFP, February 3, 2006

A billion-dollar oil deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran or the attempted purchase of an American brand name corporation attracts some interest, but it does not last long. A Cheny hunting accident or the latest celebrity scandal receives much more news time.

There is an impressive array of experts in government, academics, and corporate America who argue that China is not a threat, and that a peaceful democracy is slowly evolving from the present Communist-controlled regime. These experts advocate a trade-brings-democracy-and-peace approach, and point to growing internal Chinese prosperity as proof that China is changing for the better. One advocate of this policy is Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps General Peter Pace.

In a recent press report, Pace stated that he is "optimistic about the future with regard to China….As we continue to build economic bridges…each country becomes more and more dependent on the other for prosperity," which would purportedly lessen the probability for military conflict (AFP, February 3, 2006).

The Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review does not completely share Pace's optimism. It warns that "the outside world has little knowledge" regarding the intentions of China's vast military modernization program, and that the U.S. requests China "to make its intentions clear,” according to another AFP report released the same day as Pace's comments.

The discontinuity between the statements of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the cautious assessment of the Quadrennial Defense Review should have aroused concern in the mass media, but it did not.

History warns that the trade-brings-democracy-and-peace position does not always lead to the desired result. In 1939, when war came to Europe, the United States was Japan's single most important trading partner, with the exception of those areas under the control of the Japanese military machine. The prospect of the loss of American trade, however, did not deter Japan from attacking the U.S.

The U.S. first applied oil sanctions against Japan as a means to pressure Tokyo to cease military expansion in the Far East. Japan's response was not a halt in fighting, but the implementation of a carefully detailed plan of attack against U.S. naval forces at Pearl Harbor.

Soldiers in China's military modernization program

The Pentagon's Review questions the intent of China's vast military modernization program - Time, June 27, 2005

Billions of dollars of trade and investment in China have not resulted in a viable political rival to the Chinese Communist Party. Government oppression has not allowed such a development to occur. China's corporations have, however, contributed to a spectacular modernization of a military force that may rival that of the U.S. in the near future. China's ambition includes expansion into space, and plans - with the help of Russia - to build a base on the moon.

Profits from China's corporations have not led to political freedoms, but they have contributed to Beijing's espionage capability, with hundreds of companies run by the military for the purpose of gathering intelligence in the United States. Chinese corporate interests have given Beijing virtual control of the Panama Canal, a major container port in the Bahamas, growing influence in the entire region of Latin America, and a significant presence in Canada.

There are reports that goons sent by the Chinese Communist Party have assaulted and silenced Chinese living in America who are critical of the Peoples Republic.

Corporate China has surrounded and infiltrated the United States, but the media has given no coverage to this threatening development.

The American people must address the question of China's growing power, its ominous actions, and its unclear intentions toward the United States before we are stunned by a 21st century "Pearl Harbor."

Share

Follow us

Posted March 1, 2006

Toby Westerman publishes
International News Analysis - Today
An analytical and uncompromising weekly analysis of the world situation

Contact T. Westerman at
www.inatoday.com
or P.O. BOX 5182, Rockford, ILL, 61125-0182