郭晶晶当过演员没有:Core interests behind China's 'soft words'

来源：百度文库编辑：九乡新闻网时间：2024/04/28 19:22:15

Core interests behind China's 'soft words'

3.jpg (75.22 KB)
2011-6-17 09:40

As is normally the case, the devil is in the details.

China has often sought to defuse concerns over its military modernisation with a soothing mantra. This was most recently invoked by General Liang Guanglie, the Chinese Defence Minister, in remarks earlier this month to delegates attending Singapore's Shangri-La Dialogue.

'China will never seek hegemony or military expansion,' said Gen Liang. 'China unswervingly adheres to a defence policy that is defensive in nature.'

However, he added, only by 'respecting each other's core interests and major concerns could the Asia-Pacific region truly find lasting peace, harmony and stability'.

Gen Liang later defined China's core interests thus: 'These include anything that is related to sovereignty, political stability and form of government.

'Or if there is any attempt to secede any part of China from China, that also touches upon core interests. And then, anything that is related to the interests of China's national development.'

The Defence Minister emphasised the importance of solving contentious issues through peaceful negotiation, highlighting Beijing's successful resolution of border disputes with 12 neighbouring countries. But it is likely that China's core interest there lies more in stabilising its land frontiers and less in any specks of territory involved.

There will be no peaceful negotiation over Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang or Inner Mongolia. Beijing views these as integral parts of China, and any threat to this view will be met with force.

The same likely holds true for the Spratly archipelago/Nansha Islands and the Paracel/Xisha Islands, together with vast swathes of the South China Sea surrounding them.

True to Gen Liang's statement, China's claim to these areas is not seen by Beijing as an expansion of its territory. On issues involving sovereignty, Beijing retains the option of a military solution.

Despite the soft phrases, China is without doubt a potential threat to opposing claimants. In this context, the Defence Minister's assurance that the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) is 20 years behind the American armed forces is disingenuous as it is not the United States it would fight for control of the Spratlys/Nansha Islands.

And if Washington were drawn into a conflict with Beijing over Taiwan, Beijing has prepared an asymmetric strategy intended to counter America's superior military capabilities. These so-called 'assassin's mace' technologies include anti-satellite weapons, ballistic anti-ship missiles, cyberwarfare capabilities and electronic countermeasures.

Another core interest identified by Gen Liang is more sweeping in scope: 'anything that is related to the interests of China's national development'.

This suggests possible military action against a wide range of threats - including those affecting energy supplies, water and trade. As seen with China's naval task force deployments to the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia, these threats include non-state actors operating outside national boundaries.

Then there is China's 'defensive' military posture. The problem here is that Beijing has never ventured to define just what constitutes a defensive military action.

The natural assumption is that a defensive posture is simply geared to protecting Chinese territory - including land, sea and air. But as Gen Liang and others have made clear, it further involves protecting core interests that may well extend beyond the country's borders. Also worth considering is the George W. Bush doctrine of pre-emptive strikes that excused the US-led invasion of Iraq, which Washington characterised as a defensive action.

None of this suggests that China is duplicitous in proclamations of innocent intent behind its military build-up. But nor is it necessarily a benign power. Like any other state, it has interests to promote and protect as well as red lines others cross at the risk of armed conflict.

These factors simply mean the PLA's modernisation bears close monitoring, and concern over China's recently aggressive stance in supporting its territorial claims is justified. It means, given the scale of its military build-up and its expanding interests, that Beijing must do a substantially better job in explaining its actions and intent.

It also means that smiles and soothing rhetoric are not enough to ease any an-xiety felt by China's regional neighbours and those beyond. There needs to be substance behind the soothing statements. (Straits Times)

13 2

UID: 7160
Posts: 1958
Digest: 0
Credits: 18174
Fame: 4526
Money: 7096
Permission: 90
Online: 62 hours
Registered: 2011-3-13
Last login: 2011-6-17

Profile

TOP

Liang1a

Buddy
Offline

2^# > A < Posted 2011-6-17 13:50 Only show this user's posts Quote from the Strait Time article:
These factors simply mean the PLA's modernisation bears close monitoring, and concern over China's recently aggressive stance in supporting its territorial claims is justified. It means, given the scale of its military build-up and its expanding interests, that Beijing must do a substantially better job in explaining its actions and intent.

It also means that smiles and soothing rhetoric are not enough to ease any anxiety felt by China's regional neighbours and those beyond. There needs to be substance behind the soothing statements. (Straits Times)

Anybody can monitor the military modernization of China till they're blue in the face. Are they threatening China with their monitoring? Why should China not modernize its military especially in the face of the invasion committed by Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia? Also there is increased tension in the north in the Korean Peninsula. Nobody is telling China's enemies to be concerned with its military modernization and expansion. It is already abundantly clear that China harbors no desire to "take the oil" of other countries such as America is in the habit of doing. Nor has China any desire to invade other countries such as Japan had done. There is not a single instance in China's thousands of years of history where China had invaded another country the way the Japanese and the Europeans had done. So why are these countries now so concerned about China's "actions and intent." Anybody with an ounce of brain understands this is nothing more than a ploy to inhibit China's military modernization. If they can browbeat China into stopping its military modernization then it will allow Japan and the West to invade China at their leisure like they did in the last century.

America has always declared that it will not take any option off the table. This is of course a wise thing to do. It is unwise of China to unilaterally take military option off the table in the defense of its sovereign territories. There is no need for China to continuously sooth the "anxiety" of its neighbors. After all, it is not China invading its neighbors. It is China's neighbors who are invading China's sovereign territories now. It is more apporpriate for China's neighbors and trading partners and former enemies to declare their intentions to China and sooth China's anxiety. I like to hear Vietnam and Philippines declare they will immediately withdraw from S. China Sea and will never enter these Chinese sovereign territories again. I also like to hear from Japan, EU and America that they will support China's sovereignty in S. China Sea and that they will never invade any part of China's sovereign territories again. Will they make such statements?

Core interests behind China's 'soft words' To improve relations, US must respect China's core interests Political system included into China's 'core ... Japan's new PM needs to respect China's core ... China’s soft power winning respect in D.C.? Nuclear physicist behind China's atom bomb laid to rest India lagging far behind China - Focus discus... India lagging far behind China - Focus discus...[] Reasons behind Communist Party's democracy su... To reach to China, US must respect its core i... China shows its soft power to world with new ... What's behind the Libya intervention? - People's Daily Online What's BEHIND S. Korean "Match-fixing" scanda... Al-Qaeda behind terror threat to U.S.: Clinton China‘s Me Generation Opinion: China's 10 China’s Highly Unequal Economy | China, What'... Will Biden's China visit boost China Behind The Wall - Teaching the 'art of seduction' sells big in China China's microblogs enhance public's supervisi... U.S.-China Comprehensive Framework Managing China’s rapid rise On Managing China's Society China's $3.2 trillion headache