China Angers at US Allegation of Chinese Threat

China is showing extremely sensitive reaction to the “Threat from China” mentality raised in US. The mentality was triggered by US Department of Defense’ report on the Chinese military power, which was submitted to the US Congress on July 12, 2002.

Chinese government and press have been criticizing the report almost every day, saying, “The threat Americans argue for is a work of a wicked conspiracy. It will not help the Sino-US relations.”

▽ Chinese Refutation = The Chinese government agent, Shinhwa argued on August 1st which is the 75th anniversary of the Chinese Revolutionary Army, “The Threat from China is a fiction created by the Cold War mentality. China does not and will not pursue domination of the world forever. We have already pronounced to the world that we would not ally with any country for that purpose.”

Shinhwa also stressed, “The military strategies adopted by the Revolutionary Army are for defense purposes. Our weaponry is also for defending ourselves. Last year, China spent 1.49% of its GDP on military needs, which is half of the international average (2.6%) and developed countries (3%). Especially, ours is only one nineteenth of the money US spends, and half of the money Japanese government spent.”

One affiliate of the Chinese People’s Daily, which deals with international affairs, contended on August 1st, “The Americans’ mentality is one of the old repertoire that has been popping up whenever the Sino-US relationships improve. The pro-Taiwanese conservatives have endlessly raised this issue in order to hinder the development between China and US.”

Previously on July 16th, the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented at a regular briefing, “The report by US Defense Department is an evil filled with the Cold War era ideas.”

▽ Backgrounds for China’s Explanation = China feels a considerable burden from US recent moves including the “Threat report.” George W. Bush and his administration defined the Sino-US relationship as a strategic partnership. In addition, the Bush administration, in recent days, is widening its military involvement around the world in the name of a war on terrorism.

China worries that worsening of the Sino-US relationship might diplomatically isolate it in the global community and believes that it would not help its economic development at all. Especially, China worries, its modernization of the army might be considered as a factor for building up tension over the Taiwanese Strait. If it gets widespread, Taiwanese’ push for independence might be accelerated.

Due to these considerations, China seems to have determined that rather than confrontation with US, it should use other means in order not to sour its relationship with US, such as diplomatic persuasion and explanation, and limited cooperation and yield regarding international affairs.

In the report, the US Department of Defense concluded, “Modernization of Chinese army is for forced merger with Taiwan and exclusion of US involvement. The possibility of armed conflict in the Taiwanese Strait is the main motivation for the modernization. The report also pointed out that China considers heightened possibilities of attacks using electronic devices, Stealths, Cruise Missiles and attacking helicopters. It also focused on the Chinese efforts to develop the ICBMs that can be mobile and launched by its new submarines. According to the report, China would probably increase its annual military spending by 3-4 times by 2020 from the current $65 billion.

yshwang@donga.com