Little Bombs

"Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far"
-West African proverb (made famous by Theodore Roosevelt)

United States defense secretary Robert Gates took a trip to China early January. His intentions were to improve "defense ties" between the U.S. and China. Essentially, the US wants to maintain a cooperative friend in China as we worry about hostile countries in its neighboring areas (read: North Korea). Furthermore, with China's size, economy and power growing at such a rapid rate, it simply wouldn't do to have them as an enemy. Particularly when it comes to China's military. China has the second largest military force in the world (behind only the U.S.), a force which cannot be reckoned with and must, instead, be appeased through false grins of friendship. But rest assured, China could put up a good fight if they wanted to.

In general, the United States subscribes steadfastly to the Democratic Peace Theory, which is the idea that democracies fight significantly less with other democracies and thus, in order to increase the likelihood of world peace, as many countries as possible should be democratic. As an unspoken agenda, US leaders push democracy. (Case in point, during the peak of the Egyptian revolutions both President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressed Egypt and urged that they move swiftly to democracy.) However, the US has been known to ignore their quest for democracy in favor of finding an ally among in a tense area. (Case in point, though Egypt was not at all a democracy but, in fact, a dictatorship, the US was willing to fund nearly all of Egypt's military in attempt to gain an ally in the volatile Middle East countries). China is not a democracy, but instead a Communist country. Thirty years ago communists were among the United States' greatest enemies, but now with bigger (or perhaps just different) fish to fry, China is a great friend to the US. We interact with China on a relationship of friendship, but also of avarice and uncertainty.

However the one most troubling aspect about U.S.-China relations is that we simply do not take China seriously.  News articles come out daily about the threat of China's growth in technology, military and GDP. Because those growths are so substantial and so rapid, the US is willing to take note. But because China is not a democracy, we have the tendency to believe that their success is illegitimate. We say "oh, its China, what could they possibly do to us?" Former Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice, in her January address at BYU illustrated that there was no way that China could surpass the United States with their government in such a state. And we all cheered. "Yay! We're number one!"

It may not be a democracy, but who could argue that China's system is working for them?
It may be imperfect, but who would say that the United States' government is perfect?
Growth like this is hard to ignore.

And because we ignore China so easily, the people of China feel the need to display their power for all the world to see. Hours before President Hu Jintao received Secretary Gates in the Great Hall of the People, the Chinese military launched a test flight of its latest stealth fighter. A move that said "Wake up, U.S. We're here!" China wants the world and especially the United States to see its big stick.
President Hu informed Gates that he wasn't aware of any test flights scheduled for that day and that may very well be true, but it doesn't change how the Chinese military feels. Their move may have been undiplomatic, but it spoke volumes about what they wanted from the US. Respect. Fear. Recognition of the legitimacy of the People's Republic of China as a global state with just as much power as the United States.

They've earned their keep. They aren't like us in a lot of ways, but they are successful. For that, we must give China credit and we must recognize them as a key player in the international world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/12/world/asia/12fighter.html