Sparring With China

Though you'd never know it from the (lack of) headlines in the MSM, tensions are mounting between the U.S. and China. For one thing, it appears they're making great strides in closing the technology gap we used to hold over them:

Recently, when a Chinese submarine popped up undetected in the middle of a Pacific Ocean exercise, dangerously close to the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk, American military chiefs were left dumbfounded and red-faced.

This follows other reports that China's military technology is rapidly gaining on (and possibly even passing) ours. Chinese virtual attacks are on the rise, as well.

I'm sure you actually have heard about all the toy recalls from Chinese-made toys, but whether that is intentional or simply incompetence is unknown.

The latest slight, however, is that the U.S. carrier Kitty Hawk was scheduled to dock in Hong Kong for Thanksgiving, but Chinese authorities denied it entry into the port for unknown (but probably political) reasons. Then, the Chinese did an about-face, saying the Kitty Hawk could come in. But, the Kitty Hawk declined at that point, instead heading for Japan, where the welcome mat was waiting.

While I think it's great that this small measure of resistance was thrown up against Chinese provocation, I'd like to see much more from our government. China has long shown an acute desire and cheerful willingness to steal American technology, and these more blatant attacks indicate something more direct could be in the works. It seems that China is probing America's physical, military, and virtual defenses in a systematic way. Why would they be doing that? Hmmm...

This is precisely the reason we need to make sure the government does NOT sign the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST) - we're clearly already struggling with China's navy, and giving any potential control over to the international community is only going to make things worse.

I hope Washington, D.C. wakes up to this threat on the horizon.

There's my two cents.