If the 'war' is really an economic one, then I think the best thing the United States can do is just continue as we are - our economy is enjoying stunning growth right now, with low unemployment, and rising tax revenues leading to a decreased budget deficit. We are running at a full tilt, economically.

China also faces the prospect of some really horrendous domestic problems that we don't have here. There is genuine class warfare going on there between the new rich and everyone else who has been left out, working in factories for pennies a day. With the Falun Gong movement, and active dissident movements, access to cutting edge communication technology makes another Tiananmen scenario quite likely.

We could expect that a fully democratized China that has removed the communists from power would be much less of a threat militarily.

Only problem I have with the China analogy is the old saying "when goods cross borders troops don't"

China is completely dependent on trade with the west. It would be economic suicide to go to war with us and risk their econmy collapsing. They may last a while, but in the end they will be bled dry. We control the sea, no question about it. We will control the air, no doubt about it. They will control the land for sure, but we don't want their land. We will just shut them down. and after the dust has settled, they will be even more impoverished then they are now.

Arming Japan and Taiwan will most certainly get the chinese in high gear to reel in "me so ronry" man. Just watch, when japan announces it is going to amend its constitution and build an army all of the sudden NK will be ready for 6 party talks and will go back in their hole and be quit. till a democrate is in office and sends tough as nails jimmy carter over there. scary thought.

Of course we can win. We need only to produce more individuals capable of invention, thought, and productivity such as: journalism majors, education majors, actors, politicians, and MBAs. Throw in some "progressive thought" to the mix, and we'll have the ultimate substance fully capable of stopping all folks with true creative ability in their tracks. Our only real hope is to export these types to China where they will completely destroy what the Chicoms have created. The only problem is: The Chineese would (quite properly) exterminate them.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49838

pat buchanan voices simliar concerns in a recent column. Guesing most of you aren't big fans of his, but it's a good column anyway. Basically that China is becoming a superpower and they aren't follwing anyones rules in doing it. they are protectonist and communistic if not totally communist anymore.

China also faces the prospect of some really horrendous domestic problems that we don't have here. There is genuine class warfare going on there between the new rich and everyone else who has been left out, working in factories for pennies a day.

Let us not forget Three Gorges and the Chinese government's central control of the economy when put at odds against people's lives. Estimates of various damn project displacement have over 10M people already displaced by dams in the last few years. How is this equality--moving people from their homes that many had had for hundreds of years to flood the entire region to produce power for their Industrial Complex and for workers in Beijing, etc., to have less coal burning power plants to pollute the air. Workers in the major cities already live far better than farmers.

You hear all over the news about how China is modernizing. But very little of China is. Rural China feeds the big cities, but lives in total poverty. The big cities are ultramodern and relatively wealthy. The original idea of the revolution was equality. That is what Communism is all about. But this is not equality. This is the folks that enjoy the use of the tools of production living much better than those that don't and class disparity. I think I read about this once. It seems the guy that wrote about it had some ideas about conflict between the classes eventually leading to revolution where the agricultural workers took back the tools.

You see where I am going with this. And if not for the size of the chinese army and their ability to control large areas, and the ability to suppress news articles and information, we would hear a lot more about it.

There could well be full scale agrarian social revolts in the coming years. It is hard to find places in Chinese history where such revolts weren't happening. Due to 'family planning' the population is skewing dangerously to the male side - which means there will be literally millions of disaffected men who can't find wives.

There has been muslim unrest and terrorism in Xinjiang for ages. China has more native minority groups than any other nation on earth.

There are just incredible centrifigul forces at work in China, it is amazing they have come along as far as they have.

china is in a honyemoon period. everyones happy about them embracing capitalism they are looking the other way on the human rights, environmental and imperialist moves. it won't last

Lester,

How right you are. We keep hoping that China will become more open and more democratic since they seem to be embracing Capitalism, but the reality is that Capitalism and Free Markets cannot exist without free speech, free movement, democracy, and choices. State planning of a Capitalist Society is an experiment that is ultimately going to fail.

Reality is that an internal revolt in China is a huge risk and could propel China either back to its Maoist roots or into a chaos like Russia has become. And ultimately Russia is now less Capitalist or Communist, but almost completely totalitarian. It is highly corrupt and run by what amounts to a mafia.

We keep hoping that "China will modernize" which means accepting Capitalism and Democracy without violent revolution, but that is a pipe dream. It cannot go on like this for much longer before some major changes happen.

justin- well their roots go back far beyond Mao of course. check out the essay I linked, or rather pasted, earlier in this thread. China has a strategy that is paying off thusfar.

Of course, like all communist regimes, the comunism itself is a facade for old fashioned caste system. the ones with party connections are quite free.

Just read it. Pat is a little on the isolationist fringe of the far right.

China's military build up is not just to be antagonistic against the US, but moreso, to suppress dissent within. We are not China's enemy. Discontent Chinese citizens are their enemy.

And you are quite correct about the way a Marxist Utopia works and the fact that China is far from it. The leaders of China enjoy massive wealth. Business leaders in China rival the Capitalists that Communism was supposed to eliminate. It is a failed experiment in Communism, but as long as they retain the ability to suppress their people, they can maintain power. That is not an indefinite proposition though and sooner or later, they will lose control. No political or economic transition has ever been completely smooth.

China also has an obsession: taiwan