Japan Sounds the Alarm on China, Does the U.S. Hear It?

[Jeanfromfillmore]

Japan Sounds the Alarm on China, Does the U.S. Hear It?

By William R. Hawkins | December 20, 2010

Japan has published its 2010 Defense White Paper. Minister of Defense Toshimi Kitazawa states in his introduction, “The security environment surrounding Japan is growing increasingly severe, as evidenced by North Korea’s nuclear and missile issues, the modernization of China’s armed forces, and the intensification of military activities by China and Russia.” Tokyo has island territorial disputes with both Beijing and Moscow, and major military maneuvers were held by China and Russia during the summer. In response, the United States and Japan held joint exercises in the Sea of Japan to demonstrate the continued vitality of their 50 year alliance. The white paper notes the “Number of disputes in the so-called ‘gray zones’ (confrontations over territory, sovereignty and economic interests which have not escalated into wars) is on the increase.”
While a violent and unstable North Korea is the most immediate threat in the region, Tokyo sees the rise of China as the greater long term challenge. In the paper’s survey of the security environment, it states, “China, a major political and economic power with important clout, is gaining confidence in the international community and demonstrating a more proactive stance….China is increasing its activities in waters close to Japan. The lack of transparency in its national defense policies, and the military activities are a matter of concern for the region and the international community, including Japan, and need to be carefully analyzed.”
The paper notes China’s construction of submarines and surface ships, its interest in building aircraft carriers, the ‘mass production” of the J-10 fourth generation fighter, and the development of a fifth generation fighter. Beijing is also building its own version of the Russian Su-27 fighter and importing the Su-30 which is armed for the anti-shipping role and could form the core of an aircraft carrier wing. China is deploying more ballistic missiles of all ranges while upgrading its own air and missile defense systems.
There is a map showing the military strength of all the powers in Northeast Asia; troops, warships and aircraft. What is interesting is that the map does not just cover Japan, China, Russia, North and South Korea and U.S. forward based units, but also Taiwan. And there is a section of the report devoted to Taiwan’s defenses, with the worrying conclusion that the balance of power is shifting towards the Beijing regime against the democratic island which the Communists have vowed to conquer. Taiwan was long a colony of Japan and there remains a strong affinity between the people of the two countries.
Japan will redeploy forces to its southwestern islands and strengthen its air force in Okinawa to meet the Chinese threat. It will also build more warships (including submarines) and combat aircraft, and strengthen missile defenses. The paper states, “The Japan-U.S. Alliance is indispensable in ensuring for Japan’s peace and security” but also notes that a “Global shift in the balance of power has been brought about by the rise of emerging powers and relative change in the U.S. influence”– meaning the relative decline of America as China has grown.
The White Paper gives the impression that Prime Minister Naoto Kan is taking the situation in Asia much more seriously than is President Barack Obama. Daniel Blumenthal is the Resident Fellow in Asian Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. He served in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs during the George W. Bush administration and now sits on the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Recently, he has written,
Assessments of the military competition between China and the United States are badly needed but mostly missing. Our security elites and scholars are inhibited in thinking seriously about rivalry with China…. This is a big mistake. When it comes to Sino-American relations, the first job of our political leaders is to gauge our relative power against China’s and to make the necessary adjustment to ensure our advantage.
The Obama administration is failing in this duty. While the U.S. flexed its muscles in the Sea of Japan and the South China Sea during the summer, and finally got up the nerve to deploy a carrier group into the Yellow Sea against Chinese protests, it is not making the defense investments in new warships and aircraft that are necessary to maintain a clear advantage against a rapidly rising China.
Consider the opening statement by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke at the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade on Dec. 15, “There are so many areas of mutual interest for the U.S. and China to pursue. There is joint research to be done on energy and environmental problems; commercial cooperation to be had between our businesses; and a responsibility for us to spur innovation, not only to create jobs and opportunity; but to deal with global challenges like climate change, poverty, disease and economic inequality.” One would never know from Locke that a primary function of Chinese innovation is to build better weapons to aim at American forces. Indeed, the main demand of the Chinese delegation at the JCCT talks was that Washington lift its export controls on “dual use” technology so that Beijing could gain access to more ways to improve its military hardware and weapons production capabilities.
Defense news in the United States continues to be bad. Cracks have been found in the aluminum superstructure of all 22 of the Navy’s Ticonderoga-class cruisers. These ships were build during the years 1983-1994 and are another sign of how much America still depends on the Reagan legacy. No cruisers have been built since, nor are any in the works. This means that the Sovremenny-class cruisers China bought from Russia (delivered in 2000-2001) are newer than any American cruiser. The 600-ship fleet that President Ronald Reagan envisioned now numbers only 288 ships.
The deficit review commission wants weapons programs axed, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates has already cut hundreds of projects and is planning more reductions even in the most high priority areas. He capped the F-22 air superiority fighter at 187 aircraft, ending the program just as it was getting into gear. He now wants further cuts in the F-35 joint strike fighter program after already reducing production by 122 aircraft over the next five years. Cutting back the defense industry during a recession is bad for the economy as well as for national security; whereas building equipment the country needs is good for both. But such fundamental logic is lost in the fantasy world of liberalism.
China and Japan, of course, are not products of the liberal ideology that has eaten away at the noble traditions that generated five centuries of Western dominance in world affairs. In a recent column, Columbia University professor Mark Lilla recalled talking to a Chinese exchange student about his study of Western philosophy. The student had a very pragmatic view of the subject, “I think it very important we study Romans, not just Greeks. Romans built an empire over many centuries. We must learn from them.”
Americans must also learn from history, for the world remains the very dangerous place it has always been.
http://www.aim.org/guest-column/japa...e-u-s-hear-it/