China also confronts the concept that America's "World View" is valid

Newsgroup Leader Katheen · medicine forum Guru Joined: 20 Jan 2006 Posts: 654

Will China's rise lead to Cold War II?
Venkatesan Vembu
Sunday, May 14, 2006 21:50 IST

Email Article Print Article
Most Emailed Articles RSS Feed
Most Viewed Articles Search This Site

In this first of a 7 part series on China, DNA analyses the disquiet in
Washington

China Rising - I

HONG KONG: It isn't often that professional diplomats resort to the
language of war, but at a US congressional committee hearing in
Washington last week, US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick
invoked the dreaded "w" word in the context of
Sino-American-Taiwanese relations.

Highlighting China's near-term military build-up, which is a subject
of abiding concern among conservative security strategists in the US,
Zoellick said that Washington needed to be "very careful" about the
manner in which it navigates the minefield of diplomatic relations with
mainland China and with Taiwan. China claims territorial sovereignty
over Taiwan, and has repeatedly warned of military action if the
island's leaders move to declare independence; and although the US
abides by a 'one China' policy (which is an acknowledgement of
China's claim to sovereignty over Taiwan), it is committed to
offering military support to Taiwan in the event of Chinese military
aggression.

"We want to be supportive of Taiwan," said Zoellick. "But we're
not encouraging those that try to move towards independence." He then
made his chilling point in remarkably stark language. "Let me be very
clear: "(Taiwanese) independence means war. And that means American
soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines."

The mere articulation of conflict scenarios at "what-if" strategy
sessions on potential global flashpoints does not in itself point to
the inevitability of conflict. But security analysts and academicians
say that the economic and military rise of China, and the perception
that this rise will challenge US geopolitical and national interests,
are redrawing the contours of global politics today, and could
potentially lead to a new Cold War or, worse, a Sino-US conflict.

"The current driving force of international politics is China's
rise within an international system that is dominated by US
hegemony," says Dr David Zweig, Director of the Centre on China's
Transnational Relations at the Hong Kong University of Science and
Technology. China's ascendance, says Zweig, "challenges what the US
defines as its national interest - in terms of its security and its
economy - and its moral responsibility to maintain ... global
stability."

Former US Secretary of State James Baker, who was recently in Hong
Kong, also acknowledged that China's rise and America's
pre-eminence "have prompted observers on both sides of the Pacific to
predict an inevitable conflict as Beijing's ambitions collide with
American dominance in Asia and around the world."

China's transformation, says Baker, has been matched by "an
increasingly activist foreign policy not just in Asia but around the
world." China seeks a voice in international affairs commensurate
with its economic status - "and to judge from its defence build-up,
Beijing views military power as one of the prerequisites to attaining
that voice."

There are, of course, many signs that China is increasingly finding its
voice on the world stage; however, whenever it does so - on issues
ranging from Sudan to Iran - its foreign policy is perceived as
serving to undermine Western interests.

Chinese foreign policy, argues Zweig, is driven by China's
unprecedented need for energy resources; and in its quest for oil,
Beijing has increasingly trodden on US turf or struck deals with rogue
governments. This is causing deep disquiet in Washington. US Assistant
Secretary of State Chris Hill noted that one of the major tasks for the
US and its allies is to "ensure that in China's search for
resources, it does not underwrite the continuation of regimes that
pursue policies seeking to undermine, rather than sustain, the security
and stability of the international community."

(To be continued)

Google