US-China Relations - 170. page

The State’s Outlook Weekly magazine published interviews of Chinese military figures on U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. Major General Zhu Chenghu of China’s National Defense University believes that it is not surprising to see the increase in China-US friction. “One needs to see that the long-term existence of the Taiwan issue is inevitable under the broad framework of the U.S. strategy toward China. So the long-term and complex nature of the Taiwan issue needs to be understood. In the long run, the U.S. global strategy will not change much." He [Zhu] summed up the U.S. strategy: rely on two treaties (NATO and the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty), base on two continents (Asia and the Americas), control the seas, curb China and Russia, and dominate the world.”

Source: Xinhua, February 9, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2010-02/09/content_12958029.htm

Xinhua republished a commentary from the International Herald Leader, a newspaper under People’s Daily. The commentary was titled “There Is a Price to Pay for Making Money.” It stated that the Obama administration’s $6.4 billion weapons sale to Taiwan showed a twisted understanding of the Sino-U.S. relationship. The U.S. only wants China to help it to solve its own problems and only lets China show its power when it helps the U.S.

Following this logic, the U.S. wants China to buy U.S. bonds and products but not U.S. companies; to support the U.S. on North Korea and Iran issues; to keep silent on the South China Sea and Taiwan; to separate from other “BRIC” countries; to keep distant from Europe and not seek the removal of the EU’s arms embargo on China.

How should China respond? “Doesn’t the U.S. think it’s normal to sell arms to Taiwan? OK, following normal logic, how can anyone not pay a price for doing business? Of course, this price is not necessarily written on the back of the contract.”

Source: Xinhua, February 4, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2010-02/04/content_12928592.htm

The International Herald Leader published an article two weeks ago discussing the recent US Arms sale to Taiwan. The article suggests that the US does not believe China will take a stronger stand this time, but the author disagrees. The article quoted Chinese Navy major general Yang Yi, sayng that he believes China will never be a world power if the US is not punished this time. Meng Xiangqing, professor from the Institute for National Strategic Studies at National Defense University, thinks it is indeed different this time because China threatened sanctions for the first time. The professor also suggested, “Ten years later, when fundamental Chinese military power catches up to the States level, that will be the time for a showdown.”

Source: International Herald Leader, February 4, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2010-02/04/content_12928585.htm

On January 20, 2010, Xinhua reprinted an opinion article from China Business Times, which suggested that China economists should prevent the conspiracy of imposing more responsibilities on China while putting a stop to those who denigrate China’s economy. 

Six Chinese economists led by World Bank vice president Lin Yifu presented the “Chinese Economic Forum,” held at the NYSE on January 7, 2010. The author of the article saw the forum as a good opportunity to propagandize China. For example, Lin Yifu said that stopping the purchase of Chinese goods would hurt American consumers. Lin also said that China will not appreciate the yuan in the near future since the appreciation is like a “Pandora’s box”; if the yuan is appreciated by 10%, the outside world will demand more.

Source: Chinese Business Times, February 20, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2010-01/20/content_12840923.htm

International Finance News of the People’s Daily reports that a prominent professor of economics forecasts continued trade conflicts between China and the United States. “In 2010, Sino-US trade conflicts will become more frequent and China’s export environment will be challenging.” “Compared to 2009, the Sino-US trade frictions are not likely to improve. First, in the post-crisis era the U.S. domestic economy is still relatively difficult and needs to look for external factors to balance it. The U.S. Government and Congress will take advantage of the factor of the Sino-US trade imbalance. Second, the recent conflicts between the two countries are also constantly escalating, which will cause the trade environment between the two countries to deteriorate in the near future.”

Source: People’s Daily, February 8, 2010
http://world.people.com.cn/GB/14549/10945162.html

According to Xinhua, a director from the China Human Rights Society, a State run organization, said that the United States is solidifying its Internet hegemony under the pretext of Internet freedom. “Back then, to defend her husband’s reputation, Hillary openly demanded to restrict the Internet’s dissemination of information. Now, in order to offer reciprocation to their own political sponsors, she is publicly calling for other countries to relax control of the Internet. Is freedom of speech and freedom of the press the ‘weapon of mass destruction’ where one can see the head but not the tail?” “What is needed in the area of the Internet is dialogue, rather than blaming each other, and cooperation in technology, rather than attacking each other.”

Source: Xinhua, February 5, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2010-02/05/content_12940308.htm

China’s experts on US-China relations believe the western media are exaggerating recent conflicts between China and the United States. “The reported ‘new cold war’ between China and the U.S. is clearly an exaggeration.”

On February 6, the Japanese Sankei Shimbun outlined five key issues for this round of China-US conflicts: China hacking Google, arms sales to Taiwan, Obama meeting the Dalai Lama, RMB appreciation, and Iran’s nuclear development, based on which Sankei Shimbun concluded that the foundation for a booming China-US relationship has been eradicated.

Source: Xinhua, February 8, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2010-02/08/content_12951078.htm

On February 1, 2010, www.huanqiu.com (Global Times) published an article on the interview of Song Xiaojun, a CCTV contracted military commentator, regarding the recent U.S. arms sale to Taiwan.

Song said that the United States sold the arms to Taiwan based on a domestic law, namely the “Taiwan Relations Act” and for its own domestic political interests, which continuously hurt China’s core interests. As for the characteristics of the weapons, Song explained that they were just the same as what the Bush administration had arranged.

“Mr. Song Xiaojun particularly pointed out that the U.S. arms sales to Taiwan should remind us that China must strengthen its power to maintain its dignity and the determination to use the power. We should further enhance our capabilities so as to protect our core interests.”

Source: www.huanqiu.com, February 1, 2010
http://mil.huanqiu.com/Taiwan/2010-01/705245.html