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Originally Posted by MUSICandCHARACTER
Dave, I know you and I disagree sometimes (and agree sometimes) but I am neither uneducated nor uninformed. Your opinions my differ from mine, and that is OK, even good. But please do not assert I am working on 30 year old data.
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Yes, I agree to disagree, gladly, but reserve the right to jab at you occasionally, as will you at me, but always with the greatest respect. :)
As for the 30 year old data I was referring to political and economic, not military. I agree totally with your observation of the China military buildup, but we must consider the impact of our own threats against the rest of the world. Any major power has to see the USA as a threat, both economically and militarily. The arms race with the USSR was all about mutual ability to destroy.
If we project China's economy twenty-years into the future, it will be second only to the USA. It will likely surpass most of Europe, in combination. Any student of history realizes that such wealth must be self-protected. Hence, their rush to build the most effective fleet possible. What would we do in the same situation? I think we'd (the USA) do the same thing in the same circumstances (there's no single weapon more effective than nuclear subs off your enemy's coast).
Sooo, I'm saying that this baby is growing fast and we can't stop it. It's now trying to claim it's rightful place in the world economy and we have to accept that and work with that as best we can. The more economic interchange, the better. Let the market say which products are worthy and which are not and focus our attention on fair trade going both ways, together with protection of the West's intellectual property advantage (to the extent that it's created in the West).
Best regards,
Dave
BTW, I've yet to see a clear categorization of the current Chinese economic/political system. It's a mixture of communism, capitalism and republicanism (in the world since of that word, not the US political party sense). It's moving a lot toward a Japanese model, but the elective process is very mixed. There are no longer dictators, but neither are elections really free. If anyone has seen a good discussion of this, I'd like to see it.