China’s Hu Urges Navy To Prepare For Combat
December 8, 2011 by admin
Filed under News Stories
December 8, 2011
AFP
By Robert Saiget
“Is anyone else sick an tired of all these countries fighting with each other over the most trivial of matters? Aren’t we all human? Don’t we all want peace? The people of the world are not to blame – it’s the governments of the world that are the problem. When people have power, why do they become such arrogant jerks?” –KTRN
Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday urged the navy to prepare for military combat, amid growing regional tensions over maritime disputes and a US campaign to assert itself as a Pacific power.
The navy should “accelerate its transformation and modernisation in a sturdy way, and make extended preparations for military combat in order to make greater contributions to safeguard national security,” he said.
Addressing the powerful Central Military Commission, Hu said: “Our work must closely encircle the main theme of national defence and military building.”
His comments, which were posted in a statement on a government website, come as the United States and Beijing’s neighbours have expressed concerns over its naval ambitions, particularly in the South China Sea.
Several Asian nations have competing claims over parts of the South China Sea, believed to encompass huge oil and gas reserves, while China claims it all. One-third of global seaborne trade passes through the region.
Vietnam and the Philippines have accused Chinese forces of increasing aggression there.
In a translation of Hu’s comments, the official Xinhua news agency quoted the president as saying China’s navy should “make extended preparations for warfare.”
The Pentagon however downplayed Hu’s speech, saying that Beijing had the right to develop its military, although it should do so transparently.
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Are We Ready To Recognize China As World Power?
July 30, 2010 by admin
Filed under News Stories
July 30, 2010
People’s Daily Online
The U.S. government has repeatedly made it clear that it would welcome China’s entrance into the world arena as a power. However, a series of issues since the beginning of this year, particularly Washington’s stance on the U.S.-South Korean joint military exercises and the South China Sea issue, have made the world think: Is the United States ready to recognize China as a power on the world stage?
It is easier said than done for the United States to adapt itself to China’s development. Lip service is far from enough to boost the development of Sino-U.S. relations. If Washington cannot find a way to recognize and accept China’s peaceful rise onto the world stage, bilateral ties will be like a roller coaster full of ups and downs. However, no one would like to see the negative effects rocky relations would bring to China, the United States and possibly to the world as a whole.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged China to play a greater role in solving the world’s economic, environmental and political problems. She said global issues could not be solved by the United States or China alone, but without participation of the two countries, no problems would likely be solved. Washington has realized that the United States’ global interest can be maintained only through changing the way it deals with China.
The Obama administration released positive signals in its relations with China, which have been interpreted as the United States showing its intention to change the traditional strategy of engagement and containment. As a matter of fact, the general direction of Sino-U.S. relations provides a foundation on which the United States can base its foreign policies and is more complicated than an adjustment in real conditions. Issues such as arms sales to Taiwan, Google censorship, RMB exchange rates as well as finger-pointing about economic responsibility show Washington still seems confused and inpatient about relations with China.
The relationship between China and the United States is the most important and complicated bilateral relationship in the world this century. The development of Sino-U.S. relations will affect world peace and stability, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. Ian Bremmer, an American political scientist specializing in U.S. foreign policy, said, “America and China will have more than ever to gain from closer political and commercial ties, and must take steps to avoid a Cold War, or worse.”
In that circumstance, the United States needs both wisdom and determination to recognize and accept China, a country that is totally different from its own, as a power on the world stage.
