Significant?

[xoxoxoBruce]

BEIJING, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- China is ready to expand its military relations with the United States on the basis of mutual benefits and equal consultation, said Minister of National Defense Cao Gangchuan here Tuesday.

Cao, also vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission and a state councilor, made the remarks during his meeting with a delegation from the US-China Working Group under the US House of Representatives.

Cao said Sino-U.S. relations are on a sound development track and the leaders of both nations have maintained close exchanges and contacts.

Last year, Chinese President Hu Jintao and U.S. President George W. Bush met five times, and reached lots of consensus on promoting Sino-U.S. constructive cooperative ties, Cao noted.

Military ties serve as an important component part of the overall Sino-U.S. relationship, he underscored, adding that both sides should make efforts to upgrade Sino-US military ties and make it consistent with overall bilateral relations.

"We are glad to see our military ties gradually resume and develop in recent years with joint efforts of both sides," Cao acknowledged.

Last year, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld paid a successful visit to China. "His visit played a positive role in strengthening mutual understanding and cementing our military ties," Cao said.

China always holds a positive attitude toward developing military ties with the United States, and is ready to further expand military exchanges between the two sides, he said.

In regard to the Taiwan issue, Cao said it concerns China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and touches upon China's core interest. To properly settle this issue is of vital importance to the stable growth of Sino-U.S relations.

"We appreciate the U.S. government for their repeated reiteration of adhering to the one-China policy, abiding by the three Sino-US joint communique and opposing 'Taiwan independence'", he said, hoping that the U.S. side will honor its commitment and work with China to oppose and curb Taiwan independence in bid to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

Mark Steven Kirk and Rick Larsen, co-chairmen of the US-China Working Group, said that they are willing to join hands with the Chinese side to boost bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and contribute to the improvement of bilateral ties.

The delegation is visiting China at the invitation of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

What's really going on, anything significant or just a dog & pony show while each searches for a bigger stick?
Are we trying to sell them something? vise versa? Showing N. Korea they can't play one against the other?
Planning a joint invasion of the Middle East?
Did Walmart broker this deal?

I suspect its the last. No doubt the US Army will soon be buying tanks from Chinamart.

I think that the Chinese are more concerned about N. Korea, actually. Let's see... If the Chinese invaded N. Korea, would we care? We did fight that little old Korean War against them, but most everyone has forgotten about that one. Would the Chinese care if WE invaded N. Korea?

The two big dogs are figuring out what to do about the little yapper before resuming mutual hostilities. China has traditionally been xenophobic, and I see no special reason why they would have a sudden change of heart, except to snap up the latest in guns and ammo. N. Korea would be as good a pretext for this as any.

Glad to hear that we're finally selling Taiwan out to the commies, also.

[Beestie]

Originally Posted by marichiko

...Glad to hear that we're finally selling Taiwan out to the commies, also.

While I admire Tiawan's desire for independence, they need to earn it just like everyone else. I, for one, am not willing to cross China over it. I remember when we sailed some saber rattlers between China and Taiwan a few years ago. I wondered how we would respond if China sailed a warship between Miami and Cuba and decided it was a terrible idea.

And NK knows who their daddy is. I suspect China knows exactly what's going on over there and also think that KJI knows exactly where the line in the sand is and won't dare step over it.

Originally Posted by Beestie

1)I flunked history in high school
2)I skated past my college humanities requirements by taking an experimental studies class on the use of archetypes in the top 10 songs featured on MTV in 1999.
3)In my adult life I now labor under the delusion that I can hide my lack of education and general intellectual laziness beneath a facade of arrogance.

Nice try, kid. Give it 30 more years when the people like me who remember Chiang Kai-Shek, know something about the war in Burma during WWII, have heard the name "Mao Tse Tsung", and know the reasons why the US fought in the Korean War are dead.

At that point you can lean on your expensive private or charter school to skip right on by a few lousey 50 -100 years of US/Asian history, wave bye bye to your children as they trudge off to their jobs at Wally World, and open up a letter from the department of defense informing you that your grandson has just been killed attempting to save Alaska from invasion by the Chinese army.

But what the hell? At least you will have been spared cracking the spine of a history book.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I think today's reality is that the Chinese leaders are too busy trying to control their own people and keep themselves in power to worry about expanding their borders.
Oh,....Taiwan comes under the former.

[d1x1e]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

I think today's reality is that the Chinese leaders are too busy trying to control their own people and keep themselves in power to worry about expanding their borders.

not a bit of wonder they feel empathy for the bush government.

[wolf]

I think the axe murderer killed marichiko and is using her account.

Originally Posted by wolf

I think the axe murderer killed marichiko and is using her account.

Is that a cut of the ax or a compliment?

I actually don't think China is too likely to attack the US, either. The country is indeed more interested in protecting its own borders. Unfortunately, the US got behind Chiang Kai Shek because he was our ally fighting the Japanese in Burma in WWII and then afterwards when everyone was running around shreiking about commies and the threat of nuclear annilation in the cold war, the US in effect made a pact with him over Taiwan. It would be typical if not very honorable for the US to sell out the Taiwanese now.

By the way, the ax murderer lives in the stone ages when it comes to computers and the internet. He prefers to hang out in the back tool shed, sharpening cutting implements. The day he makes an appearance on the Celler in ANY guise will be the same day pigs start flying and Radar becomes a liberal democrat.

[Tonchi]

"...on the basis of mutual benefits and equal consultation.." Get real!! China does not do ANYTHING with the intention of giving mutual benefit to the other side. Their MO is always to take 10% from us of what we buy from them, then copy all of the technology and knock out their own version the following year so they can do even less business with us. As we are handing over all our money and jobs, they also steal our wallet and Uncle Sam trips and falls over trying to grab it back. Then China throws an hysterical screaming tantrum when we attempt to discuss what has just happened. Now we are going to work together on MILITARY mutual benefits??? ROFL LMAO

[tw]

Originally Posted by Tonchi

"...on the basis of mutual benefits and equal consultation.." Get real!! China does not do ANYTHING with the intention of giving mutual benefit to the other side. Their MO is always to take 10% from us of what we buy from them, then copy all of the technology and knock out their own version the following year so they can do even less business with us.

China has great interest in mutual benefit. For example, dollars in China could be invested elsewhere for greater profit. But China is interested in a mutual benefit by buying US Treasury bonds. Indeed, they regard this as a very mutually beneficial action and are confused when Americans hype nonsense about China conquering the world.

But then which China are we talking about. There is no monolithic China as there is no monolithic United States. In both the US and China are people with Urbane Guerrilla attitudes. These were same people who advocated a 'hot war'. These people both in the US and China wanted a war over a silly spy plane because that is how they view the world and solve all problems.

Fortunately more intelligent people cooled the situation - kept a silly spy plane midair crash as nothing more than a silly mishap. It is a question that every Cellar dweller should ask. Did you see the spy plane incident as irrelevant, or did you take a 'hot head' attitude? We need not ask to predict what UG types advocated.

China is an emerging nation with biases and problems that comes with being an emerging nation – a wild west economy. The US once would pirate all good books. British authors would routinely see their works pirated and resold by American publishers all over the world in the mid and late 1800s. Is China only doing what America did? Again, where is your perspective?

China is a country of so many perspectives. For example, the Central government is desperately trying to get control of and stop so many mining disasters that probably occur every week. Central government is constantly trying to stop outright and major abuses found in so many small and rural communities as a local rich power broker violates basic human rights. With a country so large, these abuses can occur for years if not decades before the Central government finally understands what is happening.

Meanwhile, the same events are proof to wacko extremists that China persecutes all peoples.

There is no monolithic China. There are even Urbane Guerrilla types in China who advocate a large military force only to pre-emptively attack America before the US ‘Pearl Harbors’ China. And considering the George Jr doctrine, can you really blame other Chinese for giving these UG types consideration? Of course not. Just as Gen Curtis LeMay bluntly wanted the US in a nuclear war; to get it over with so that the US could dominate the world with 'goodness'.

US economic model for China and other emerging nations is simple. We will 'out innovate' them. It has worked because the US education system taught science, math, and other studies of reality. Today, the US graduates more people in religion studies, communication majors, MBAs, lawyers, and other disciplines that improve the status quo; don't push out the envelope. A problem averted because the US once imported, educated, and then domestically employed so many immigrants – 50% of America’s technical expertise is found in immigrants. Today, those immigrants are being driven away from American schools and driven out of the country by UG types who so fear immigrants; only making America’s economic model troubled. The is the George Jr policy of promoting fear. It is a serious problem when an economic model for the US is to have Americans design products - then foreigners manufacture them.

What will these UG types then do? Blame the foreigners. Even put up steel tarrifs to protect the enemy – bad corporate leaders who don’t even know how steel is made.

So Chinese copy GM cars. Those should be obsolete, last decade models. But in GM’s case, there is a real problem. GM models have very little innovation. GM designs today are only technology mostly from ten and twenty years ago. That means better cars would come from China - who can also make the same obsolete tech product cheaper and then innovate out the mistakes. After all, if your management comes from making cars rather than from an MBA school, then innovating in China becomes easier.

The major problem is not China. Problem is George Jr who stifles America's largest sources of innnovation. Problem is companies such as GM who absolutely refuse to innovate; even play money games with pension funds so that they could show profits in the 1990s, and then complain about unfair Chinese competition. GM would even use the old tired lie about 'smoke stack' industries to justify their 'no innovation'. Lie about pensions that GM forgot to fund back in the 1990s. Those who buy or promote such lies then turn and blame China. They must look upon China as some monolithic dragon that is inheritently evil because they do not (maybe cannot) look in a mirror.

China is really nothing more than what the US was in the 1800s complete with industrial piracy, counterfeiting, and industrial islands of excellence. A rational American will see a 'China of so many' who view their US connections as mutually beneficial. Don't let Chinese Urbane Guerrilla's distort your vision. Worry about those UG types in China. But view China more in terms of their more intelligent people. How do we prosper from their mutally beneficial actions?

China is def a challenge to the US in terms of long term superpower... But I have faith in the US!