On January 11, 2007, the Chinese military used a missile to destroy a satellite orbiting the earth. The satellite was a weather satellite launched by China in 1999. Beijing shocked the entire world with this act.
Beijing Openly Shows Off its Military Power
Several countries, including the U.S., U.K., Australia, Japan, and South Korea lodged a protest with China, asking for an explanation. Their major concerns are three fold: First, China failed to inform them of the test prior to its commencement (this violates the "Global Outer Space Treaty" of 1967, which stipulates the procedure for giving notice to each other when conducting any outer space activities). Secondly, the destroyed satellite was blown into tens of thousands of tiny pieces, which severely pollute outer space and jeopardize the orbit of other satellites owned by various countries. As estimated, nearly 120 satellites are impacted. Third, the destruction of a satellite via a missile is a military act, which means that China broke its promise to use outer space for strictly civilian purposes. In truth, the real concern behind the protest is that if China can and will destroy its own satellite, what is to stop it from destroying the satellites of other countries?
When being questioned by the global community, the Chinese denied that the act ever took place; eventually becoming evasive and noncommittal. After twelve days, they finally acknowledged the act. Hence, some experts in the U.S. guessed that the destruction of the satellite may have been a unilateral act by the military, and Hu Jintao, head of the CCP may not even be aware of the situation. Ultimately, what's the difference between whether he knew about it or not?
From launching missiles to destroying a satellite, the CCP has shown its breakthrough in military power. As a matter of fact, Beijing has shown its military capabilities one by one without any cover-ups, sometimes to the point of publicly showing off. A few months ago, Beijing claimed that the Chinese army now has the J-10 aircraft. It has said that the J-10's combat abilities have been improved significantly and is now comparable to the F-16 made in America. The Chinese media has very purposefully reported that China is currently preparing to build aircraft carriers, which are now in the critical stages of implementation.
China's reckless actions have led the global community to believe that the Chinese threat (which should actually be called the CCP threat) is coming to fruition. Beijing is finally starting to show its true colors publicly, demonstrating its regional, or even possibly global hegemonic ambitions.
Time Magazine Misinterpreted China
Earlier this year, Time Magazine's U.S. edition ironically published a cover article entitled "China: Dawn of a New Dynasty." It quite mildly and even "positively" explained China's military aggression. The article claimed that although China has increased its military budget three fold in the last ten years, China won't destroy world peace as Germany or Japan did prior to the second world war. It also stated to the extent that Beijing will tolerate the uncertain relationship between mainland China and Taiwan: "In all likelihood, war over Taiwan is unlikely," and that China and the U.S. won't launch a war due to Taiwan. The author of the article went on to suggest that the U.S. could work to get China admitted into the G-8.
Another magazine, The Economist , published in the U.K seconded these notions by euphemistically interpreting China's engagement in aggressive military acts as a big country's vanity. Unfortunately, just after Time Magazine published its article, China launched the satellite-destroying missile. That incident is a very loud and powerful statement: Beijing's ambitions are not delimited within China; it wants to challenge the world and outer space.
On the other hand, the article in Time Magazine assessed the short-term threat that the CCP poses to the U.S. and the world in order to determine how relations should be handled with China. However, it completely ignored another element, which is not only the threat the CCP poses to the outside world, but also towards China itself, especially at the present time.
Over the past half century, the Chinese communist regime has mobilized its military forces on a large scale twice. Both times the target was the Chinese people. The first incident took place during the Cultural Revolution, in which Mao Zedong employed military power to defeat his political opponents by means of stirring up nationwide riots and then deploying the army to support the "Left Deviation." The second time was the June 4th Incident, in which Dent Xiaoping deployed one third of his regular army, over 300,000 soldiers, to besiege Beijing and mercilessly slaughter unarmed students and civilians in order to stamp out the flame of democracy.
China continues to develop its economy at the cost of human lives and rights. Should this model prove to be successful, it would open the door for many other countries to follow suit: Everything would become money-centric and human life would be treated as though it were completely expendable. Should the international media choose to turn a blind eye to this despicable modality or, worse yet, give it high praise, then they will be burning a candle for the devil. Once the autocracy in China is ensured, it can be extended to the outside world with ease. In other words, they can focus their attention and resources from the inside out.
Will China be a Super Power Characterized by Benevolence or Evil?
Time Magazine's report seemingly wanted to ease the outside world's worries about China; however, just prior to the release of the article, Beijing happened to issue the White Paper on China's National Defense in 2006. It revealed that China's national defense budget amounted to 283.829 billion Yuan (US$36.59 billion) for 2007. This is a 14.68 percent increase from the previous year. Many countries' intelligence indicated that China's actual military expenditure is several times higher than the released figure. If we were to take the appreciation of Renminbi into consideration and estimate the figure with actual data, then the true amount of China's military spending would be astonishing.
China's annual economic growth rate is as high as 10 percent, which is widely regarded as the fastest growth rate in the world. China's defense budget, however, has increased at a much greater rate than that. From 1990 to 2005, its annual defense budget increased at a double-digit growth rate, with an average of 15.36 percent, which is much higher than the growth rate of the nation's economy.
Theoretically, after fifteen straight years of high growth rates, one such growth rate that should be slowing down is China's military expenditure, so as to earmark more funds in order to promote and support the shaping of a more harmonious society. This is particularly so for the present time, as the momentum of Taiwan independence has abated due to internal conflicts on the island between the Pan Blue camp and the Pan Green camp. Furthermore, with the boycotts by some pro-China and rogue politicians such as Lee Ao, Taiwan's arms procurement bills are unable to pass the legislature. Apparently, it is unreasonable for the Chinese communist regime to steeply increase its military spending under the pretext of dealing with Taiwan independence.
A recent terrorist attack revealed something strange—the rocket used to attack the U.S. Embassy in Greece was from China. The Chinese communist regime may not be directly involved in this attack, but it sent a message that China's influence is ubiquitous. With China's long-term support for rogue countries, the international community should keep a watchful eye on everything China does.
Regarding the sharp increase in defense budgets, the Chinese communist regime noted that, "The budgets are mainly used to improve military personnel's compensation and the living environments of troops, enhance the capability of weaponry as well as increase infrastructure investment, etc." As we all know, China has purchased large amounts of weapons from Russia in recent years, and has thus far shown no signs of slowing down or stopping. In the meantime, it repeatedly raises military personnel's salary by as high as 50 percent, which is rarely seen in any Chinese social strata.
After the repeated "reforms" to the military's compensation system, the living standard of military personnel has almost become "luxurious." Take the North Sea Fleet of the Navy for instance. It actually reported that because "the meals are too nutritious," the ratio of overweight individuals amongst its crew has suddenly grown from 3.7 percent to 34.6 percent, which "has seriously affected their combat capability."
At present, the whole world is talking about the "rise of China" (in fact it is the rise of the Chinese communist regime). If the regime is a super power, it is undoubtedly an evil one. As China and the U.S. are fighting for hegemony, one is characterized by benevolence, while the other is evil. Thus the world may be polarized into two opposing extremes, evil and benevolence. The former is advocating autocracy while the latter promotes freedom. That being the case, the scenario of the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union may reappear. Moreover, with the Chinese communist regime's growing economic clout, it is more attractive and deceptive than the former Soviet Union. As a result, it has a much greater potential for destruction, and it will be a new nightmare for human beings to face.
(Excerpts from the February 2007 Issue of the Hong Kong Open Magazine )
