National Security

China Syndrome

By Mark Thompson | @MarkThompson_DC | October 11, 2010 | +

There’s been a ban on U.S. arms sales to China since three days after 1989′s Tiananmen Square clash, when tanks and soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army attacked and killed an unknown number of Chinese students. At least until last Friday, that is.

 

C-130s/Lockheed

 

President Obama sent a terse letter to Congress saying it was time for an exception. “I hereby report to the Congress that it is in the national interest of the United States to terminate the suspensions under section 902(a)(3) of the Act with respect to the issuance of temporary munitions export licenses for exports to the People’s Republic of China insofar as such restrictions pertain to the C-130 cargo aircraft to be used in oil spill response operations at sea,” he wrote (guess the Chinese saw what a bang-up job we did with that BP oil spill and want to learn from the best).

Sure, this is a one-time deal, but it’s bound to lead to more. After all, arms sales to China may be one way to reduce our trade deficit with Beijing. Perhaps then we won’t have to borrow so much money from China to develop weapons for the coming super-power war with China.

Related Topics: c-130, China, National Security

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  • nflfoghorn

    “Perhaps…we won’t have to borrow so much money from China to develop weapons for the coming super-power war with China.”
    .
    Dang – WW III already?

  • newfreedomblog

    Hmmmm…..shades of FDR. I do believe it was FDR who had scrap metal shipped to the Japanese just before the Japanese entered into WWII on the side of the Nazis.
    .
    Our military then were shot with the bullets made from the scrap metal when we went to war with the Japanese in WWII.
    .
    History indeeds repeats itself.

  • newfreedomblog

    I think it may be more prudent to just cut spending, rather than continuing to borrow more money from the Chinese. That way more of our service men and women do not need to face the barrel of Chinese guns or warplanes in the future. Yes?

  • Ike Jakson

    It’s Catch 22; with a win-win situation for China. But in future you had better talk to Joe Klein before you write anything about China.

  • destor23

    Sorry for being such a spoil sport but that “coming Super Power War With China” line is a joke, right?

  • GivenUp

    I think it was supposed to be a joke that nevertheless has a hint of seriousness in it, at least that’s how i read it.

  • nflfoghorn

    Hey Mark – can we chuckle or were you serious?

  • 11charlie

    If the Chinese want to get their brains jarred around by riding in a Vomit Comet, I say “go right ahead”.
    .
    Since we’re talking about an aircraft that went into service in the late 1950s, the US isn’t selling the Chinese state-of-the-art military equipment. And it’s a cargo plane that is available to the commericial aviation market.
    .
    It’s not like we’re selling missiles to a radical government overtly hostile to America, and that supported a terrorist group responsible for the death of hundreds of American Marines.
    .
    No American administration would act that foolish. Right?

  • josephmcclary

    OK, these questions about whether that line was a joke are more than disturbing.

    A joke?!? Do you think the Chinese are joking? Do you really think they play games with their national future the way the U.S. does? You need to wake up and smell the coffee – and take a 1 month trip to China while you’re at it – so that you’ll get a clue how they “play the game” and what they’re playing for (hint: keeps).

    They aren’t playing games and our concern about ending up in a war of the superpowers with them are both very real and very well founded. We go to do war games with S. Korea and China says, “Keep the aircraft carrier out of the Yellow Sea [international waters, btw].” What do we do? “Yes, sir, China, right away. No aircraft carrier in the Yellow Sea, got it.”

    I won’t waste any more of my time trying to educate you (I hope you will do that for yourself), but you need to spend some time Googling some of the things that China has been up to in the last 5-10 years (including the results of a massive poll in China asking its citizens whether they thought they would be in another major war and, if so, with whom; Hint, Yes, and the U.S.).

    While we argue over whether “the poor” (in our country, that means those who don’t work but still have cell phones, nice jewelry, and an Escalade) have adequate healthcare or are being given enough food stamp money, China is busy building an astonishing national strength (double digit – that’s 10% plus, for those of you who don’t know – ANNUAL growth in their military spending, along with a nearly TWO TRILLION sovereign wealth fund – that’s how much cash China, as a nation, has in the bank).

    Don’t fool yourselves. America spends so much time “laughing” and “chuckling” about things that are, in reality, life and death, that I’d be surprised if our nation still existed in its current state by 2020.

    Wake up!!!

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