Why does US rev up China threat?
By Michael T. Klare (The Nation)
Updated: 2005-10-08 15:38

Chinese leaders are no doubt fully aware of their glaring military inferiority vis-à-vis the United States, and so can be expected to avoid a risky confrontation with Washington. But any nation, when confronted with a major military buildup by a potential adversary off its shores, is bound to feel threatened and will respond accordingly. For a proud country like China, which has been repeatedly invaded and occupied by foreign powers over the past few centuries, the U.S. buildup on its doorstep must appear especially threatening. It is hardly surprising, then, that Beijing has sought modern weapons and capabilities to offset America's growing advantage. Nor is it surprising that China has sought to buttress its military ties with Russia — the two countries held joint military exercises in August, the first significant demonstration of military cooperation since the Korean War — and to discourage neighboring countries from harboring American bases. (Uzbekistan asked the United States to shut down its base at Karshi-Khanabad after a meeting of the Chinese-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization in July.) But even if defensive in nature, these moves will provide additional ammunition for those in Washington who see a Chinese drive for regional hegemony and so seek an even greater U.S. capacity to overpower Chinese forces.

This is all bound to add momentum to the pendulum's swing toward a more hostile U.S. stance on China. But that outcome is not foreordained: Future economic conditions — a sharp rise in U.S. interest rates, for example — could strengthen the hand of those in Washington who seek to prevent a breach in U.S.-Chinese relations. These figures argue, for example, that Beijing helps keep U.S. interest rates low by buying U.S. Treasury bonds and that China represents an expanding market for U.S. cars, aircraft and other manufactured goods. But the pursuit of ever more potent weapons on each side could prove to be a self-sustaining phenomenon, undermining efforts to improve relations.

The debate over China's military power and the purported need for a major U.S. buildup to counter China's recent arms acquisitions will become increasingly heated in the months and years to come. As always, it will be fueled by claims of this or that Chinese military advance, often employing pseudo-technical language intended to exaggerate Chinese capabilities and discourage close scrutiny by ordinary citizens. If this trend persists, we will become locked into an ever expanding arms race that can only have harmful consequences for both countries — even if it doesn't lead to war. Questioning inflated Pentagon claims of Chinese strength and resisting the trend toward a harsher anti-Chinese military stance are essential, therefore, if we want to avert a costly and dangerous cold war in Asia.