SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Power Politics in the Pacific: Will China Challenge US Dominance of the Seas?
report from aboard a US warship on China's naval assertiveness that is prompting regional and US concerns.
Dec 30, 2010
China's growing military assertiveness has alarmed its neighbours and
prompted the US to keep a high profile on Asian waters. It has been
pressing claims on disputed waters and seeking new weapons and warships.
Liang Guanglie, the Chinese defence minister, said on Wednesday
that the country's booming economy is driving its military might.
"In the next five years, our economy and society will develop faster,
boosting comprehensive national power," Liang said. "We will take the
opportunity and speed up modernisation of the military."
Liang said China's military would continue to advance its capability
to fight and win high-tech wars, while also boosting its conventional
arsenal.
He said the the 2.3-million-strong People's Liberation Army plans to do this all without foreign aid.
"We will stand on our own feet to solve the problem and develop our
equipment," Liange said, "The modernisation of the Chinese military
cannot depend on others, and cannot be bought."
China's increasing military spending has generated concern among its
neighbours, but Chinese officials insist that they are only interested
in peace and that its naval build-up is not a threat.
The US, however, sees Beijing as a potential threat to its once unrivalled dominance of the Pacific.
China ended military relations with Washington a year ago in protest
against a multi-billion-dollar US arms package for rival Taiwan.
The two nations have since resumed low-level military contacts at a
technical level, but Liange has invited his US counterpart, Robert
Gates, for talks in Beijing from January 9-12 agains a backdrop of
increased tensions in Northeast Asia.
Al Jazeera's Steve Chao joined the Seventh Fleet aboard the USS George Washington in the Pacific Ocean from where he filed this report:
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
China's growing military assertiveness has alarmed its neighbours and
prompted the US to keep a high profile on Asian waters. It has been
pressing claims on disputed waters and seeking new weapons and warships.
Liang Guanglie, the Chinese defence minister, said on Wednesday
that the country's booming economy is driving its military might.
"In the next five years, our economy and society will develop faster,
boosting comprehensive national power," Liang said. "We will take the
opportunity and speed up modernisation of the military."
Liang said China's military would continue to advance its capability
to fight and win high-tech wars, while also boosting its conventional
arsenal.
He said the the 2.3-million-strong People's Liberation Army plans to do this all without foreign aid.
"We will stand on our own feet to solve the problem and develop our
equipment," Liange said, "The modernisation of the Chinese military
cannot depend on others, and cannot be bought."
China's increasing military spending has generated concern among its
neighbours, but Chinese officials insist that they are only interested
in peace and that its naval build-up is not a threat.
The US, however, sees Beijing as a potential threat to its once unrivalled dominance of the Pacific.
China ended military relations with Washington a year ago in protest
against a multi-billion-dollar US arms package for rival Taiwan.
The two nations have since resumed low-level military contacts at a
technical level, but Liange has invited his US counterpart, Robert
Gates, for talks in Beijing from January 9-12 agains a backdrop of
increased tensions in Northeast Asia.
Al Jazeera's Steve Chao joined the Seventh Fleet aboard the USS George Washington in the Pacific Ocean from where he filed this report:
China's growing military assertiveness has alarmed its neighbours and
prompted the US to keep a high profile on Asian waters. It has been
pressing claims on disputed waters and seeking new weapons and warships.
Liang Guanglie, the Chinese defence minister, said on Wednesday
that the country's booming economy is driving its military might.
"In the next five years, our economy and society will develop faster,
boosting comprehensive national power," Liang said. "We will take the
opportunity and speed up modernisation of the military."
Liang said China's military would continue to advance its capability
to fight and win high-tech wars, while also boosting its conventional
arsenal.
He said the the 2.3-million-strong People's Liberation Army plans to do this all without foreign aid.
"We will stand on our own feet to solve the problem and develop our
equipment," Liange said, "The modernisation of the Chinese military
cannot depend on others, and cannot be bought."
China's increasing military spending has generated concern among its
neighbours, but Chinese officials insist that they are only interested
in peace and that its naval build-up is not a threat.
The US, however, sees Beijing as a potential threat to its once unrivalled dominance of the Pacific.
China ended military relations with Washington a year ago in protest
against a multi-billion-dollar US arms package for rival Taiwan.
The two nations have since resumed low-level military contacts at a
technical level, but Liange has invited his US counterpart, Robert
Gates, for talks in Beijing from January 9-12 agains a backdrop of
increased tensions in Northeast Asia.
Al Jazeera's Steve Chao joined the Seventh Fleet aboard the USS George Washington in the Pacific Ocean from where he filed this report:
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.