How America's New Secretary of Defense Will Deal With China

SSG Norman Lihou — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 14:31:37 -0500

Time for your weekly round-up of China stories:

Ashton Carter was officially confirmed as the new U.S. secretary of defense on Thursday. To mark the occasion, The Diplomat offers a collection of links hinting at what approach Carter might take to military relations between the U.S. and China.

A December 2014 article from Defense One pointed out that Carter was an advocate for “the pivot to Asia” before the term existed. Adam Tiffen writes that Carter “knows Asia. He has been an advocate for the prioritization of Asia since the late 1990s. He wrote a proposal with former Defense Secretary Bill Perry, under President Clinton, that advocated the United States develop strategic military relationships in places like Asia to prevent future regional conflicts.”

Read more:
http://thediplomat.com/2015/02/how-americas-new-secretary-of-defense-will-deal-with-china/

Plus, trouble in Myanmar, defending the Silk Road, and China's cyber theme song. Friday China links.

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 13 at 2015 7:37 PM

CW5 Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 19:37:08 -0500

I like it, SSG Norman Lihou. Seems like the SecDef was already pivoting towards Asia when the pivot was just a twinkle in others' eyes. (HA HA)

He seems to be saying all the right things. Mil-to-mil exchanges; continue to defend Taiwan; alliances with Asian countries.

My concern is the cyber threat posed by China and our response to it. I'm speaking from what I read and hear in the news. It seems that China is eating our lunch and we're trying to plug the holes in the dike after the cyber attackers have come and gone. I hope I'm wrong and there's more going on behind the green door -- things that we commoners without the clearance and the need to know cannot see. I hope there's more to the story, and I assume there is. If not, we're in a world of hurt when it comes to China and the cyber threat.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made Feb 13 at 2015 9:48 PM

CPT Jack Durish — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 21:48:40 -0500

Is China a threat to the United States? I suppose so if they were to cut off our supply of cheap consumer merchandise. That would really hurt, wouldn't it? However, wouldn't it hurt them even more? Whenever the US demand for Chinese manufactured consumer goods diminishes, their economy takes a giant hit. Would they be so foolish as to attack the hand that feeds their economy?

That being said, I suppose that focusing on China makes more sense than focusing on climate change. I almost choked when I heard the President declare that global warming is an even greater threat than terrorism. Really? (Sadly for the President, the NASA data that he used to support his assertion was debunked within days of his speech.)

How do you pivot towards the threat of cyber attacks. Defending the cybersphere is a global problem. The most effect attacks are launched in such a manner as to obscure their point of origin. Thus, defenses must point in all directions within as well as without the nation.