Cold War between US and China

United States defense budget accounts for 46.5% of the total defense spending in the world.

But according to an article in New York Times, the United States is “alarmed by harsh tone of China’s military.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/12/world/asia/12beijing.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

The article maintained that “The Pentagon is worried that its increasingly tense relationship with the Chinese military owes itself in part to the rising leaders of Commander Cao’s generation, who, much more than the country’s military elders, view the United States as the enemy.”

The key words here are “in part” because what is not spelled out here are the military exercises that US navy have conducted with South Korea and Japan naval forces in recent months in and around China’s Yellow Sea and East China Sea under the pretense of teaching North Korea a lesson. They were intended to be a show of force to tell China that you are under our watch at all times.

During the recent Diaoyutai incident, the US has reiterated US’s position under Japan-U.S. security treaty to protect Japan if a military conflict erupted between China and Japan over this island even though the US does not necessarily agreed that the island belongs to Japan.

According to an article in New York Times,

The other problem is that, technically, the U.S. would be obliged to bail Japan out if there were a fight over the Senkakus. The U.S. doesn’t take a position on who owns the islands, but the  specifies that the U.S. will help defend areas that Japan administers. And in 1972, when the U.S. handed Okinawa back to Japan, it agreed that Japan should administer the Senkakus. So we’re in the absurd position of being committed to help Japan fight a war over islands, even though we don’t agree that they are necessarily Japanese.

http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/look-out-for-the-diaoyu-islands/

The US has in recent months accelerated shipments of military supplies and advance weaponry to Taiwan in the name of defending the small island against China’s military advance. Its clear intention was to use Taiwan as a pawn to block China’s expansion into Pacific Ocean with Taiwan acted as a willing partner. The US, however, has held back on the shipment of F-16 C/D fighter jets to Taiwan purely as a bargaining chip in dealing with China’s expansion economically and militarily.

The America also injected itself into the long standing territory dispute between Vietnam and China in South China Sea after decades of silence on this issue. Its Secretary of States and Secretary of Defense suddenly found Vietnam a friendly country with promises of providing Vietnam with nuclear technology and the construction of a nuclear reactor power plant in Vietnam, all in the name of protecting American’s national interests in South China Sea. What interest is the US talking about?

What’s really going on behind the close doors between US and Vietnam are secret discussions of setting up a permanent naval port in Vietnam for American’s navy ships in South China Sea.

On India, closer military cooperation between US and India was the primary objective of the high level visit by US defense secretary Robert Gates to India earlier this year. His goal was made very clear by his speech:

“In coming years, we look to India to be a partner and net provider of security in the Indian Ocean and beyond.”

Can you not clearly see the intention of the United States which is to block China’s expansion militarily and diplomatically? The United States looked for areas of dispute and potential conflicts between China and its neighbors. It then make itself a partner with China’s neighbors and in the process further divide Asia into two camps: China and everyone else.

How can China not seeing the US as a potential enemy given the diplomatic and military maneuver by the US in recent months?

What’s going to happen is an arm race in the region because every country is entitled to defend itself militarily. China will certainly do so to rid its “sick man of Asia” image once and for all. It is also likely that the pressure from the US will push China and Russia closer in the near future and the cold war will take on a new meaning before you know it.

The United States has 10 aircraft carriers and hundreds of naval ships cruising around the world every day. It has thousands of nuclear war heads and countless fighter jets in airbases all over the world. It has advance military technologies no other country can match in years or even decades.

But, what right does America have to object other country’s military expansion?

They do not, period.

The United States is exercising its military power over other countries for a simple reason: that’s all it has now!

The United States is losing the global war on energy as it imports 70% of its daily crude supply. The trend can not be reversed any time soon and the United States is sending $380 billion dollars to foreign countries every year. If you want to know what wealth transfer is all about just look at this amazing sum of money flowing from our pockets to oil-rich countries. Year after year! With no end in sight! The Iraq war cost the US $700 billion in nine years. We are giving away two Iraq wars every two years with some changes to spare!

The United States is losing the global war on economics as its morphs into a service centered economy.

The United States is losing the global war on capitalism as it moves slowly to socialism with national health care system. In the process, it will drags down its medical instrument industry and drug companies; two areas of innovation and research.

The United States is losing the global war on currency as US dollar is weakened by the introduction of Euro and renminbi within the next twenty years.

The United States is losing the global war on manufacture as new plants popping up all over the world except in the US.

The United States is fighting the global war of terrorism as more and more terrorists looking for ways to come to America as we speak. This global war on terrorism is America’s to lose because of increasing discrimination against Muslims in the US.

The only area that the United States is decades ahead of every one else is its military capability. But the paper tiger is struggling to hang on to its military might in order to exert influence in the world. But its military power is built on a house of cards because the United States is broke.

In short, the good times are gone for the United States. It may not be forever. But it is damn close!

The really sad thing about this is that the US has limited ways to get out of this malaise simply because of its enormous debt, federal deficit and trade deficit in the years to come.