Kissinger Says China is Not a Threat

Story dated 13 June 2005

"Military imperialism is not the Chinese style. Carl von Clausewitz, the leading Western strategic theoretician, addresses the preparation and conduct of a central battle. Sun Tzu, his Chinese counterpart, focuses on the psychological weakening of the adversary. China seeks its objectives by careful study, patience and the accumulation of nuances -- only rarely does China risk a winner-take-all showdown . . . The Chinese state in its present dimensions has existed substantially for 2000 years. The Russian empire was governed by force; the Chinese empire by cultural conformity with substantial force in the background."

Really? Apparently, the PRC's brutal oppression of its own citizens doesn't figure into Kissinger's assessment.

"Attitudes are psychologically important. China needs to be careful about policies seeming to exclude the US from Asia and our sensitivities regarding human rights, which will influence the flexibility and scope of the US stance toward China. The US needs to understand that a hectoring tone evokes in China memories of imperialist condescension and is not appropriate in dealing with a country that has managed 4000 years of uninterrupted self-government."

My respect for Kissinger aside, he's cracked. 4000 years of uninterrupted self-government? Excuse me? I wouldn't call the current totalitarian regime 'self-government'. Nor would I call the Imperial government prior to the 20th century to be 'self-government'.

Kissinger thinks we should work with the tyrants. I say we work with the people of China -- this means not siding with their oppressors. He may be right and China may not have plans to conquer us. However, that does not make our support of their regime right.

posted by The Sovereign Editor | 11:36 AM

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