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ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
ANTAGONIZING CHINA OVER NMD
(New 6/20/01.)
lobal peace and prosperity depends to a remarkable degree on robust exchanges between the world's richest nation and the world's most populous. Considering that fact, the leaders in Washinton D.C. and Beijing have been either tragically star-crossed or remarkably cavalier about provoking confrontation.
In 1996 Beijing fired a pair of ballistic missiles across the Taiwan Strait under the pretext of "military exercises", prompting the U.S. to send a carrier battle group in response. In 1999 the U.S. bombed the Chinese embassy in Kosovo and ascribed it to an intelligence error.
In mid 2000 the two nations seemed about to put the bad blood behind them when President Clinton struck a deal for U.S. approval of China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). Then George Bush vowed to commit untold billions to building a space-based national missile defense (NMD) system to detect and destroy ballistic missiles that might threaten the U.S. A clear effort at upsetting the global balance of power, charged Beijing, vowing to commit whatever resources necessary to counter NMD. Its predictably harsh and intransigent stance toward a crippled U.S. spy plane forced to land on Hainan Island produced another standoff which, for several tense days, seemed capable of triggering a shooting war.
What American wouldn't want a shield from foreign ballistic missiles? But the NMD is hardly a sure thing. It's premised on technology that won't exist for a decade or more. It will end up costing well over $100 billion dollars. Meanwhile its mere existence on drawing boards sours relations with China, Russia and other nations. At present all it guarantees is another arms race. The only way it makes strategic sense is as a means to bankrupt a nascent geopolitical rival by forcing it into an arms race it can't afford. Look at what the nuclear arms race did to Russia.
Does the U.S. stand to gain or lose by using the NMD to threaten and alienate China?
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
To "Melvin Rude"
"I don't agree with you about how you say the media promote "negative news slant" regarding China as a military threat and Japan as an economic competitor. Are you saying this is racist on the part of the media? I don't think so. "
American news coverage is biased - it is always pro-American. That is to be expected. I would recommend a trip abroad (or satellite TV) for a taste of news coverage from other countries to get a different view. BBC World is a good example. CBC and various European outlets are also good contrasts. In the view of much of the world, the US is basically a big, loud, immature bully. This contrasts with the presentation of the American media, in which the US is always portrayed in a favorable light.
No, I do not think American news media is necessarily racist. But when the opponents or potential opponents are not Caucasians of European descent, appeals to racism certainly can be used to bolster the apparent threat. In China, the US faces the first potential world rival which is not European. Even Japan is somewhat defanged by their demilitarization.
"Western Europe is also painted as an economic competitor to the USA, like Japan, and has been for many decades."
Not nearly to the extent the Japanese were. For example, Japanese purchases of US assets were given heavy negative coverage in American news. At its peak, Japanese ownership of assets in the US was less than 25% of that owned by British citizens and entities. Yet there was little to no objection to the British owning per capita much greater US assets. Why? Germans were also our enemies during WWII, yet their economic resurgence has elicited few negative comments from the media.
"I don't think there's any conscious bias in the media against East Asians..."
If you mean the news media, I would partly agree with you in that I think there is still some journalistic integrity at work. However, there ARE certain people in the news media who will bash China and other Asian nations at every opportunity, e.g. Bob Costas attacking Chinese athletes as drug users. This is a form of conscious bias. If you mean the media in general, I would disagree with you. I think there are people in the entertainment and publishing industries which are actively racist.
"Supposedly (according to the Drudge Report and various papers) after 9/11, the Chinese GOVERNMENT produced a half hour propaganda video…"
*Sigh* Your assertions are biased (and ignorant) to the core, and you are denying bias in American news media. Ironic. First: show any documentation of such a story. Preferably a reputable source, i.e. not on Drudge. Second: It would not surprise me if SOME people in the Chinese government produced such a video…just as it would not surprise me if the KKK made a video asserting white supremacy, or if bin Laden makes a video justifying terrorism in the name of Islam, or if Pat Buchanan makes a video bashing immigration. There are SOME elements in the Chinese government which are actively hostile to the US. These people are NOT the entire Chinese government, and they are not representative of the people of China. As difficult as it may be for you to comprehend, totalitarian bureaucracies are not really monolithic. There are factions within the ruling party, and the internal workings of such bureaucracies are terrifying in their obscurity. For example, during the spy plane incident there was internal struggle between reformers in Beijing, a thousand miles away, and hardliners in the military. The reformers eventually won. Eleven days is not a long time for a bureaucracy of that size.
Rather than relying on Drudge or other secondhand sources, try watching CCTV. This is available on satellite TV, and is an official Chinese news source, i.e. it is government controlled. Uniformly they have had factual coverage of the WTC attacks and have expressed sympathy. China Daily is another official government news outlet, and is available in English on the Web. Again, sympathy is expressed for the victims of WTC.
"Isn't this a reason to dislike the Chinese government and view them as hostile liars?"
Well, if you want to bash somebody, it helps to make it look like they offended you. That way you can take the moral high ground, and claim you were attacked first. In reality, the US has pretty much given as much offense as it has taken. For example, in recent years the US bombed the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia, killing Chinese citizens. The spy plane incident was created by extremely aggressive forward positioning of US intelligence assets. A multimillion dollar aircraft purchased for the Chinese president was heavily bugged. The US prevented China from hosting the 2000 Olympics. The US unilaterally broke its word on the 1972 ABM treaty, forcing China to enlarge its nuclear arsenal to maintain some credible nuclear deterrent. This doesn’t include the fact that the US was one of the external powers which carved out spheres of influence in 19th century China, and sold opium to the people.
There are many reasons to dislike the Chinese government. I dislike them myself. But I base my opinion on facts, not biased media reports.
Miscegenation is great
Sunday, January 20, 2002 at 20:15:35 (PST)
Jim, another thing about the word, "defense". Why don't you read George Orwell's 1984 and concentrate of the "doublespeak" concept. Have you ever heard of the Dept of Offense? Have you ever heard of a war where we were the invaders?
American male
Sunday, December 23, 2001 at 14:08:02 (PST)
Jim, how naive and biased you are. There are many countries who oppose the NMD, including American allies. Those who have supported it have done so begrudgingly. The U.S. wields the power of the world and has many countries in its pocket.
Also, Taiwan is considered a rogue state by the Chinese. You say that Taiwan is a democratic nation, but that's only one perspective.
Without a NMD, China would not annhilate anyone right now. They're not stupid. Do you think that on the brink of an economic surge they would wage a war? Even if this were true, do you think that they would wage war on the U.S., their key trading partner and wieler of the mightiest military force this planet has ever seen?
American male
Sunday, December 23, 2001 at 14:03:39 (PST)
You ask if we stand to gain anything by alienating China. However, they have continuously threatened and alienated us. They committed an act of war by knocking our plane out of the sky over INTERNATIONAL waters and holding it and our service men and women hostage. They have openly hinted that they will nuke California if we protect Taiwan, a DEMORACTIC nation from China, a communist, NON-DEMOCRATIC nation. Many say that NMD will spark an arms race. However, China has involved itself in an aggresive arms buildup for some time now. Also, a defense is passive by nature. It does not threaten any nation directly. By China demanding that we not build NMD, they are implying that they have THE RIGHT to be able to annihilate us, which is absurd. Should we also take the locks off our doors because they would give a homeowner an unfair advantage against a robber? The people who are against NMD would rather see belligerent foreign leaders happy than Americans and their families protected from nuclear destruction.
Jim
Saturday, December 22, 2001 at 18:15:42 (PST)
Tianna Man,
Try being a KKK or Islamic Nation (any extremist group opposed to the union) in the USA and invoke your right to freedom of assembly and freedom of the press. You will find a lot of cities in the USA will not welcome you either and an FBI file with your name on it. The USA has the 10% of the population in prision, USA citizens die there also (we gave up on reforming people in prison, we went back to punishment version of incarceration in case you missed the 1980's). The USA spies on China with high tech airplanes and land uninvited in China, killing a Chinese pilot. We American "accidental" shoot a guided high tech missle in to a Chinese Embassy. At least Chinese spies don't kill USA citizens.
You think China the evil empire and some Chinese think USA is the "paper tiger."
You should read novel "1984," if you missed it in high school (if you graudated). Then try to spout some "evil" nonsense on the theory dipolar politics and economic forces.
AC dropout
Thursday, December 13, 2001 at 15:45:02 (PST)
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