I didn't read Ms. Roberts column on this. And while I'm at it, I'll say that I don't think it would hurt the N&R all that much to post the stuff they print from their local columnists...

But I would agree that China doesn't present a threat to America today. It will become a major competitor for world dominance within a decade, based on what I've read recently. I really hope it doesn't come to all-out war, however. We'd never stand a chance in a conventional war.

China does not represent a military threat. It does represent an economic threat, and one that, in my opinion, is much worse a threat than a military one.

China isn't a conventional, immediate threat to the physical continental US but is a high threat to Taiwan and S.E. Asia Korea and Japan and Australia and U.S. intersts in those areas. China is a nuclear threat to the western states of the US.

China is controlled by a communist political party that excercises its will through its enforcers, both police, and military. As a whole the Chinese people are not the threat, it's their leadership that is the problem.

The Chicom's are undergoing a rapid naval build-up that hasn't been seen since in Asia since Japan in the 1920's-30's. The projected carrier force in the next 10 years dwarfs anything America and her union labor could accomplish without a WWII type mentality, which I don't think this nation is capable of anymore.

Communism exists to give a ruling class privilege and totalitarian power at the expense of a labor force. Unless power is excercised it's useless, much like keeping money in the bank and never using it or its ability.

Wow! I am impressed that Rosemary Roberts and her friend jim have flatly declared that China is not a military threat. I feel much better now.

My only question is how they are qualified to make that assessment and declaration of fact. Are they military strategists or did they attend the War College? I find it very interesting that individuals can make statements of fact without any supporting documentation. It would seem that without any documentation, those statements are not facts, but rather just uninformed opinions. It's what journalists and columnists do all of the time.

The Bush Family and the repub party exist to give a ruling class priveledge and totalitarian power at the expense of America's labor force. the more power is exercised the more it is like putting more and more money in the bank. Sound familiar Hugh?

Dean Worm - People (intelligent people that is) observe and form opinions based on native intelligence, experience and observations; that is called wisdom. Wisdom is the opposite of stupid. Stupid is vomiting back rush, O'Liely, et al. Try thinking for yourself. It will be hard at first but if you stick with it, it will be worth the struggle.

"Communism exists to give a ruling class privilege and totalitarian power at the expense of a labor force."

Wow. I wonder what Marx would say about this development? {;-)

I gotta say that the original writer said my thoughts exactly. Why on Earth would they be building up so much if they have no one to fight? The Australians have a former Chinese Ambassador that defected to their country and said that every Chinese foreign national was told to gather as much intelligence about the US as they possibly could. Why I wonder?

My thoughts are they are gonna go in and whoop Taiwan's butt fairly soon and are preparing for us when we try to come to the rescue. But if you notice, Bush is wording his comments about Taiwan very carefully when he gets pinned down. He says that we will only defend them if they "maintain the current balance" and pretty much don't declare independance. How hypocritical of us to go and fight to liberate Iraqis yet we won't help the people who are fighting for it tooth and nail. China is the largest, most powerful Communist nation in the WORLD (and probably one of the most brutal as well, if not THE most) yet we still open our borders, help them out any way we can, and now we are letting them bid on buying UNOCAL (a large oil company here in the US). We are pretty much aiding the enemy yet Washington seems to only be out to make a quick buck.

We need to get our !@#$ straight and hold everyone to the same standard. If we aren't going to tolerate tyranny in the Middle East, we certainly shouldn't let it slide in Asia.

OH YEAH, I am a REPUBLICAN and a BUSH supporter. That should show all of you people out there (Eric for example) that us 'neo-cons' don't agree with EVERYTHING this administration does. We all have our gripes.....some of us are just a little more civil about it........

Yellowdog,

You ever think how much time you could save by just coming up with one paragraph and posting it to each letter?

It could go something like this:

Bush sucks. All of his followers are stupid and greedy. Democrats rule.

Tater,
Even the Aussies are tiptoeing around the China issue because of trade and economic issues while ignoring Indonesia for the most part. You will read a lot more about that situation in the Australian press than you will in any of the US press and hear about in other media outlets. It seems they have more to report on than Aruba and dissing the SC candidates who have not even been chosen yet.
Jim is as usual , half right when he states that China is an economic threat but he fails to have any knowledge of the intensity of observation that the US intelligence service has had in China since the 70's and 80's. China has continued to build their military at a tremendous rate and has increased that building in the last 10 year to a furious rate. It continues to increase. It is certainly not being increased to attack Taiwan since they could do that with only a couple of divisions and be done with that deal in a matter of days unless the US decided to nuke them which is not likely. China's build up is, as one person stated, similar to the Japanese buildup prior to WW2 only more dangerous. Indonesia has OIL which the Chinese would love to get their hands on. They already are gobbling up all the oil in Africa as possible. Just go on to google, yahoo, or what ever and type in Sudan, Dufar, Oil and see what comes up. It sure is not the US and oil. It is China who has the largest oil company in that region. If China controls much of the oil then they can control most of the economies of they world which is where Jim is half right. They will not be able to just walk in an take control without a fight even though some would differ and say they seem to be doing a good job of it now. A good part of Europe, Australia, and the US will not stand idly by and allow that to fully happen. Eric is part right also. It will not be a conventional war. China has too many spare people around to be able to wipe them out in a conventional type war. The only way to control that large of military is by nuclear force. Fortunately the Chinese do not wish to engage in that type of war at the moment. Give them a few years,as Eric stated, (they don't need a decade however) to fully develop their nuclear arsenal and then look out. Japan has been telling the world that for years because they know the consequences of nuclear attack and they have much to fear from China as well. If you have been reading some of the back pages of some newspapers you will have read that Japan is asking and getting permission to build their military once again(and it includes nukes) in order to help
defend against China.( NKorea can be thrown in there also with their large military and potential nuke development)
So as usual the likes of Ms Roberts lack the native intelligence , as yallerdog puts it, to understand the situation and to offer even a wrong opinion but then that is typical because she is seldom right on any subject.( Please note I said seldom and did not say that she is never right.)
Finally, Tater, you are correct in saying that this administration needs to do what all of the past administrations in the last 15 years have failed to do and that is get their heads out of thier hindsides and pay attention before we have to pull that trigger.

Tater,
Even the Aussies are tiptoeing around the China issue because of trade and economic issues while ignoring Indonesia for the most part. You will read a lot more about that situation in the Australian press than you will in any of the US press and hear about in other media outlets. It seems they have more to report on than Aruba and dissing the SC candidates who have not even been chosen yet.
Jim is as usual , half right when he states that China is an economic threat but he fails to have any knowledge of the intensity of observation that the US intelligence service has had in China since the 70's and 80's. China has continued to build their military at a tremendous rate and has increased that building in the last 10 year to a furious rate. It continues to increase. It is certainly not being increased to attack Taiwan since they could do that with only a couple of divisions and be done with that deal in a matter of days unless the US decided to nuke them which is not likely. China's build up is, as one person stated, similar to the Japanese buildup prior to WW2 only more dangerous. Indonesia has OIL which the Chinese would love to get their hands on. They already are gobbling up all the oil in Africa as possible. Just go on to google, yahoo, or what ever and type in Sudan, Dufar, Oil and see what comes up. It sure is not the US and oil. It is China who has the largest oil company in that region. If China controls much of the oil then they can control most of the economies of they world which is where Jim is half right. They will not be able to just walk in an take control without a fight even though some would differ and say they seem to be doing a good job of it now. A good part of Europe, Australia, and the US will not stand idly by and allow that to fully happen. Eric is part right also. It will not be a conventional war. China has too many spare people around to be able to wipe them out in a conventional type war. The only way to control that large of military is by nuclear force. Fortunately the Chinese do not wish to engage in that type of war at the moment. Give them a few years,as Eric stated, (they don't need a decade however) to fully develop their nuclear arsenal and then look out. Japan has been telling the world that for years because they know the consequences of nuclear attack and they have much to fear from China as well. If you have been reading some of the back pages of some newspapers you will have read that Japan is asking and getting permission to build their military once again(and it includes nukes) in order to help
defend against China.( NKorea can be thrown in there also with their large military and potential nuke development)
So as usual the likes of Ms Roberts lack the native intelligence , as yallerdog puts it, to understand the situation and to offer even a wrong opinion but then that is typical because she is seldom right on any subject. Please note I said seldom and did not say that she is never right.

OOOPS sorry about the double post. Got a little one on the lap who likes to play with the mouse. grrrrrrrrrr.

Mike & Rosemary are taking extreme positions. One underplaying & 1 overplaying the threat. China for the forseeable future isn't a military threat. That said their goal is to be a superpower with all that that signifies and they are positioning themselves industrially, economically, & militarily. Rosemary is probably right that they aren't a threat now because they are not ready to seriously play at our level. When they are then they will be a threat.

"Truth": Bush sucks, all his followers are stupid and greedy. Democrats rule. Thanks "Truth" WOW that felt good.

Sorry Marshall, any country with the resources that China has, that is building a military the likes of which has never been seen on the face of the earth before is a very, very immediate threat to the United States.

I give our current leadership a lot more credit for brains than some here and I would wager that something, in the background, is being done.

In addition to trying to corner the world oil market, you have noticed the price of gas lately, right? If the liberal media would come up with something other than "It's all Bush's fault." and start looking at what is going on perhaps people would get the picture of what is to come. In addition they also are buying up all the scrap metal,world wide. The price of scrap iron has gone up so high now that it is selling for more than finished steel sold for 3 years ago. The reason is the Chinese are paying more for scrap than anyone else in the world is. Why?
Anything and everything is going up in price right now because of that one thing. Cost of building, automobiles, tractor trailer rigs, everything that has metal in it. They are even ripping up old railroad beds in Siberia and shipping the rails to China. Abandoned factories in North Korea are being stripped of all metal and it is being shipped off to China, all the way down to the reinforcing rod embedded in the concrete. And, speaking of concrete, there is a world wide shortage of that right now. Guess where it is all going?

I don't suppose anyone remembers, prior to the war with Japan, Japan buying up all the scrap steel that they could get their hands on.

Yellow dog, you walked into my trap. I knew going in that some commie sympathizer would equate Bush/Conservatives as being the same as the Chicom elite.

Equating Communism to the USA betrays your true ideology. Pinko Commies are not welcome in the US and deserve scorn and contempt for that demented ideology. And anyone who supports it is blind to the murderous blood thristy reality that is Communism.

Mac,

China has the fastest growing economy in the world. A thirst for natural resources is not necesarily sinister. If it were the rest of the world would resent us (oh yeah they do, I forgot).

It is in Chinas interest to make nice with us right now & I suspect they will. Down the road may be another story.

Marshall,(and others) I think you will be interested in reading this article on China. While it deals mainly with Australia and human rights it has loads of insight as to where China is heading and heading quickly.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15720126%255E25377,00.html

Eric, Marx would be "deeply saddened".

Mr.P,

That Aussie foreign policy part of that article is a glimpse of what the competition of the next decade will start looking like. That's why it's important that we get our act together now.

The recent poll that showed that China was better thought of than the US in almost every country should have gotten our attention. One interpretation is that China is thought of as a country on the rise. We need to be gathering our allies now rather than to be alienating them.

Well read Marshall. It also points out that China will go to any lengths to achive it purpose and that is world domination. Maybe in their quest they will have to deal with the Muslim terriorist.

The Aussie paper has had many more article concerning China and what it is up too in that part of the world. Shame we don't get the same coverage here. All we seem to get is the story on Aruba and arguments about the Supremes and who is going to get appointed and no one has even been named yet.
I suggest Hillary be appointed to take OConners place and Newt Grinch to take the other appointment should it arise anytime soon. Ooops sorry to get off the subject, but a little humor is needed occassionaly.

Hugh,

You said:

Yellow dog, you walked into my trap. I knew going in that some commie sympathizer would equate Bush/Conservatives as being the same as the Chicom elite.

Equating Communism to the USA betrays your true ideology. Pinko Commies are not welcome in the US and deserve scorn and contempt for that demented ideology. And anyone who supports it is blind to the murderous blood thristy reality that is Communism.

Let consider this.

The government steals money from everyone's paychecks every week. The more you make, the higher a percentage they steal. But "poor" people get their money back at the end of every year. The government just "borrows" some money from them for a while.
Really though, you don't own any money. That green stuff belongs to the Federal Reserve, a private bank which functions as a Central Bank.
No one in this country really owns any land or any vehicles. Ever wondered why you pay property tax? If you own land, after all, why do you have to pay someone else for it every year? Do you have the title to your vehicle? Think so? Look again. What you have is a certificate of title. The government has the actual title to "your" vehicle. Just take a look at that plate and those tags they put on there. That's so you know who it belongs to--North Carolina. That's also why they charge you a yearly fee--for using their vehicle.
They can also take what you believe to be your private property anytime they like.
Watch what happens to your estate when you try to leave it to your children.
The government controls communication and transportation (FCC and DOT)
The government controls agriculture (Dept. of Agriculture)
Children go to "free" public schools, where they are regularly indoctrinated into communist ideas. You're forced to pay for this.

Now go read what Karl Marx designated as the 10 planks of communism in the Communist Manifesto. Marx would be quite proud of the USA.

Good thoughts on China.

Here's a story I tell:

The other day I was assembling something, and realized both the little 1/4x20 bolts and the wrench were made oveseas, and probably not made anywhere in America anymore.

If China wants to attack America - all they have to do is stop shipping us little bolts and wrenches; or motherboards; or industrial valve castings - made for the world in Tiawan I hear; or any of a million things.

In our race for everyday low prices, we have givne our critical manufacturing industries to our future enemy (who was our commie enemy, but is not a "favored trade partner"). What have we done!!!

Think China is not a threat? http://news.ft.com/cms/s/28cfe55a-f4a7-11d9-9dd1-00000e2511c8.html

Billy, thanks for the link. But you forget Rosemary Roberts, that international military expert said they weren't a threat to us.

After all what would a Chinese Military General know.

yellowdog,

Perhaps, you should take some of your own advice to heart. You're right that wisdom is the opposite of stupid. Your response to me was the epitomy of stupid. Your comments had nothing to do with what I had made comments upon. I had made no comment about Bush, so why do you feel it necessary to insert your rant there? Your post reveals your obvious biases and completely discredits you. Yeah, wisdom is the opposite of stupid. You made your point very well and provided a clear example of what stupid looks like.

Worm you asked what qualified Rosemary to make the observations she made about China. My response that a lifetime of study and observation and carefully considered thought would lead to her opinions on that situation. I believe her column appears on the opinion page. Get it Worm.
Rosemary forms her own opinions she does not need Rush, Rove, or the rest of the right wing media to tell her what is right or wrong.

Now if you thought I called you stupid I did not. What I said was it is stupid to get all of your information from the right wing press. Apparently you thought I meant you since it's obvious that you are a FOX king of guy. Hey buddy if the shoe fits.....

I watch Foxnews. Does that make me stupid?

Keep in mind that I do read about 6 different websites (including CNN, MSNBC, Reuters, AP, Drudgereport, etc.) a day; however, since I watch Foxnews I must be stupid.

Typical left wing bantering. Thanks for the chuckle though....

Paul, if what you said were true then the commie folks ought to be in love with the US, instead of seeking ways to destroy it.

Hugh,

What's not true? Are you telling me we don't have progressive income taxes and property taxes and inheritance taxes, and all of this bureaucracy, the Federal Reserve, and public schools?

The fact that two countries have similar political/economic systems doesn't mean they love each other. Countries will war with one another for dominance, no matter how much alike they are.

But realize that I am exaggerating this some. We're not completely communist...yet. We're just well on our way.

Yallar,
I watch Fox News, am I stupid? I read a dozen newpapers for across the country and around the world before breakfast,. How many do you read? I get in another half dozen or so before bedtime. So just because I would rather listen to all points of view, regardless of whether I agree or not, does that make me stupid. Please Yallar, find another way of joining in on these blogs besides calling everyone who is not a yellowdog democrat stupid and making other off the wall remarks. I really believe that you can do better than that. It sure does not reflect well on the Democrat Party either.

Mac:

"I give our current leadership a lot more credit for brains than some here and I would wager that something, in the background, is being done."

My goodness I hope you are correct - but every week I learn of an American factory being uprooted and shipped - literally - to China ... and I see our "current leadership" doing nothing.

Frankly, it scares me to death.

Mac,

"I give our current leadership a lot more credit for brains than some here and I would wager that something, in the background, is being done."

Your faith is admirable & maybe correct. I will say they're covering their tracks well. The most I would say that they could do is make sure our ally structure is strong & that our strategic manufacturing base is also. Chinese society will morph over time. What form that will take is anybodies guess.