It may rarely come up in Political Science courses but the military threat to the United States from Communist China is real and growing. “This is a serious military build-up.” Daniel Blumenthal of the American Enterprise Institute remarked. “I think we are slow to come to terms with what we’re facing.”
Blumenthal, who also serves on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, argued that “People have changed their tune,” when it comes to the current Chinese military.
The Department of Defense recently released its report on the People’s Liberation Army, or PLA, of China. The findings were astonishing. The Department reported that it is likely that the military spending by the PLA is two times as much as what has been officially disclosed by the Red Chinese government. On June 7th, a panel of scholars, including Blumenthal, met to discuss the report’s findings and the effect it has on the United States.
Larry Wortzel, Chairman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, opened by praising the Defense Department for its report, noting that the studies have improved since the department started publishing them for congressmen and congressional committees.
“I’m interested in what they are doing with that budget,” Wortzel said. Referring back to the report, Wortzel pointed out that “It covered some of the more important areas that the PLA is moving into.”
Wortzel informed the audience that the PLA has four intelligence-gathering agencies, not including businesses that report to the government.
“This is significant for America. This is significant for all of Asia,” Randall Schriver, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said after citing the report as saying “The balance is shifting to China.”
What does this mean for America? “The United States would be facing an adversary who had at least a decade’s worth of training,” Schriver explained. Schriver did say that a positive fact is that this build-up “requires resources for China to sustain.”
So what is causing this military build-up in China? “China is not happy with the international system,” Professor Wang Yuan-kang of the Brookings Institution explained.
If the report is right about the balance shifting to China, then it is “bad news for Taiwan,” Professor Wang said of his homeland.
All of the scholars agreed that America currently lacks a plan or a position on the issue of China’s military build-up. “The U.S. needs to be engaged in a very serious way.” Schriver insisted.
John J. Tkacik, Jr. of the Asian Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation argued that “United States diplomacy encourages Chinese military build-up.” Tkacik cited previous times in history when the U.S. government had failed diplomatically with China.
The scholars all had different opinions on whether or not the Chinese military build-up could lead to another Cold War era. “I think it would be a different flavor [than the Cold War],” Schriver stated. Wortzel disagreed saying that he didn’t “see that major [a] change.” Tkacik added, “If there is going to be another Cold War, it will be because China wants it, not the United States.”
“The game is on. The game is on in Asia.” Schriver claimed.
Matthew Murphy is an intern with Accuracy in Academia.
