U.S. makes plans for a hostile China by Jan Lamprecht

Asia is awesomely powerful. China is not the only major power in the region. India is also very powerful, and Japan is almost a potential super-power in its own right. Many commentators seem to ignore the fact that Japan is sitting there with over 100 million people and the world"s second strongest economy. In World War II, Japan invaded China and socked it to them. I would not write Japan off so easily. If the Japanese build up their military, and remain friendly to the USA they could be an excellent ally in the region.

China is also very interested in Africa though and the Western world and China may yet clash in Africa in this century. Keep watching this space. Jan]

The Chinese military buildup has South Korea, Japan and the U.S. planning for a possible confrontation.

WASHINGTON - An important subtext of Chinese President Hu Jintao"s visit to the White House is the growing U.S.-China military competition.

As China"s defense spending surges, the Pentagon is pursuing a strategy of strengthening its forces in the Asia-Pacific region as a hedge against the possible emergence of a hostile China.
The Navy is putting a larger proportion of its submarine fleet in the Pacific, plans to add one aircraft carrier battle group in that region and is outfitting strategic missile submarines with nonnuclear cruise missiles.

The Air Force has been improving its ability to deploy B-2 stealth bombers from Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific; the Marines are shifting some troops to Guam; the Army has talked of moving the headquarters of its I Corps, which focuses on potential conflicts in the Pacific, from Fort Lewis to Japan.

The Pentagon has made no secret of its increasing focus on China as a potential threat to stability in Asia and the Pacific, where U.S. alliances with Japan and South Korea have been key underpinnings of the region"s economic growth. At the same time, the U.S. has been careful not to describe the Chinese as an adversary.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chief of naval operations, said this week that China"s military buildup is a serious concern.

Japan has scrambled fighter jets 107 times so far this year to intercept suspected Chinese spy planes, a top general said Thursday amid growing concern in Tokyo over China"s arms buildup. The 107 alerts in the first three months of 2006 - the most in at least a decade - were a dramatic increase from the previous year, when fighters scrambled only 13 times against Chinese planes, Gen. Hajime Massaki said. "We believe these planes to be engaging in information-gathering activity, and behind the trend is the rapid modernization of China"s military," he said. "They"ve got an economy which is booming," he said. "They"ve also invested heavily on the military side, so we"re watching both."

He said the United States hopes that China"s goal is to promote world peace and prosperity.
"On the other hand, if there are other motivations there, that certainly would be a concern," Mullen added.

The Washington Times reported Thursday that its three-month investigation of the U.S. military buildup in Asia showed that it is part of a covert strategy in which the U.S. military position in that region is being strengthened in ways designed to avoid provoking the Chinese and to dissuade them from becoming a hostile power.

Source: Associated Press

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