I agree with the comment. Moreover, to "sow doubt" plays on deep political, cultural and economic differences. We must work with the PR China, not undermine with macho opacity. I trust Ambassador Locke and hopefully Secretary Clinton strive to do this. But the Clinons are renown for their Attitude. China borders 13 countries. Finally, Chinese are traveling to and from Taiwan. PR China has a pivotal role in North Korea. But we should understand with proposals such as this article, we force the PR China to respond in kind.

Congratulations on your choice of a username because the Chinese aren't in search of any kind of soul, nor have the Chinese ever considered they (or others) might have a soul.

The CCP considers Japan and S Korea small potatoes. Beijing wants the United States. The CCP belief is that Japan, Europe and the rest of the world will follow Beijing once the PLA forces have succeeded in destroying the United States. Here are some excerpts from former PLA defense minister, Air Force Gen Chi Hotian:

"Would the United States allow us to go out to gain new living space? First, if the United States is firm in blocking us, it is hard for us to do anything significant to Taiwan and some other countries! Second, even if we could snatch some land from Taiwan, Vietnam, India, or even Japan, how much more living space can we get? Very trivial! Only countries like the United States, Canada and Australia have the vast land to serve our need for mass colonization.

"Only by using special means to “clean up” America will we be able to lead the Chinese people there. This is the only choice left for us. This is not a matter of whether we are willing to do it or not. What kind of special means is there available for us to “clean up” America? Only by using non-destructive weapons that can kill many people will we be able to reserve America for ourselves. There has been rapid development of modern biological technology, and new bio weapons have been invented one after another. Of course we have not been idle; in the past years we have seized the opportunity to master weapons of this kind. We are capable of achieving our purpose of “cleaning up” America all of a sudden. When Comrade Xiaoping was still with us, the Party Central Committee had the perspicacity to make the right decision not to develop aircraft carrier groups and focus instead on developing lethal weapons that can eliminate mass populations of the enemy country.

"From a humanitarian perspective, we should issue a warning to the American people and persuade them to leave America and leave the land they have lived in to the Chinese people. Or at least they should leave half of the United States to be China’s colony, because America was first discovered by the Chinese. But would this work? If this strategy does not work, then there is only one choice left to us. That is, use decisive means to “clean up” America, and reserve America for our use in a moment. Our historical experience has proven that as long as we make it happen, nobody in the world can do anything about us. Furthermore, if the United States as the leader is gone, then other enemies have to surrender to us.

"We must prepare ourselves for two scenarios. If our biological weapons succeed in the surprise attack [on the United States], the Chinese people will be able to keep their losses at a minimum in the fight against the United States. If, however, the attack fails and triggers a nuclear retaliation from the United States, China would perhaps suffer a catastrophe in which more than half of its would perish. That is why we need to be ready with air defense systems for our big and medium-sized cities. Whatever the case may be, we can only move forward fearlessly for the sake of our Party and state and our nation’s future, regardless of the hardships we have to face and the sacrifices we have to make. The population, even if more than half dies, can be reproduced. But if the Party falls, everything is gone, and forever gone!"

And how's this for a zinger of a concluding statement:

"The central committee believes, as long as we resolve the United States problem at one blow, our domestic problems will all be readily solved. Therefore, our military battle preparation appears to aim at Taiwan, but in fact is aimed at the United States, and the preparation is far beyond the scope of attacking aircraft carriers or satellites.

"Marxism pointed out that violence is the midwife for the birth of the new society. Therefore war is the midwife for the birth of China’s century. As war approaches, I am full of hope for our next generation."

* * *

Just out of interest, does anyone know what Australia spends on defence as a percentage of GDP?

Is officially called 5% for whatever you feel it is being used for. If you don't want to believe official records from the US that's fine, but then anyone can say its 50%, no one can prove them wrong or right.

first off, anti-chinese isn't racism, unless you posit that China is a different race unto itself, it's prejudice. Second you can hardly use the same old tired cliche of America being a 'white' country constantly trotted out by anti-american foreigners (and deluded domestics) when we currently have a black president. Rather its rather more apt and akin to calling China 'yellow China'. You are exceedingly generous with what you define as Chinese history, scholars typically date a 'Chinese' History at 2000 or so years, before that being an associated hodgepodge of independant kingdoms that were no more a single Chinese country than rennaissance Europe was a single 'European' country.

China doesn't have an interest in its region being stable, or at least it isn't its overriding interest, else it would have long since allowed North Korea to be reintegrated into South Korea, dropped all astoundingly greedy claims to the near entirety of the South China Sea and Arunachal Pradesh. China's interest is dominance, its historical interest has been dominance, and its interest in stability has only been so far as to fulfill its historic arrogance and hubris (middle kingdom...says it all). Even today the goal is often repeated as to regain its 'rightful' place and to by association put other Asian countries in their 'rightful' place. Rather more racist and prejudice than anything from the US right?

Your idea of rectification is called imperialism in reality KASEMAN. You are advocating imperialism against China's neighboring countries and you advocate an arrogant mindset by espousing the oft spoken of myths of China's past and present.

Your last paragraph is not even a coherent thought, let alone worthy of reply.

Spot on.

For anyone interested in racism and warmongering, here are some excerpts from the former defense minister of the CCP-PRC, Air Force Gen Chi Hotian:

"As everybody knows, according to the views propagated by the Western scholars, humanity as a whole originated from one single mother in Africa. Therefore, no race can claim racial superiority. However, according to the research conducted by most Chinese scholars, the Chinese are different from other races on earth. We did not originate in Africa. Instead, we originated independently in the land of China. The Peking Man at Zhoukoudian that we are all familiar with represents a phase of our ancestors’ evolution. 'The Project of Searching for the Origins of the Chinese Civilization' currently undertaken in our country is aimed at a more comprehensive and systematic research on the origin, process and development of the ancient Chinese civilization.

"We used to say, 'Chinese civilization has had a history of five thousand years.' But now, many experts engaged in research in varied fields including archeology, ethnic cultures, and regional cultures have reached consensus that the new discoveries such as the Hongshan Culture in the Northeast, the Liangzhu Culture in Zhejiang province, the Jinsha Ruins in Sichuan province, and the Yongzhou Shun Emperor Cultural Site in Human province are all compelling evidence of the existence of China’s early civilizations, and they prove that China’s rice-growing agricultural history alone can be traced back as far as 8,000 to 10,000 years. This refutes the concept of 'five thousand years of Chinese civilization.' Therefore, we can assert that we are the product of cultural roots of more than a million years, civilization and progress of more than ten thousand years, an ancient nation of five thousand years, and a single Chinese entity of two thousand years. This is the Chinese nation that calls itself, 'descendents of Yan and Huang,' the Chinese nation that we are so proud of. Hitler’s Germany had once bragged that the German race was the most superior race on Earth, but the fact is, our nation is far superior to the Germans.

"We must greet the arrival of the Chinese Century by raising high the banner of national revitalization. How should we fight for the realization of the Chinese Century? We must borrow the precious experiences in human history by taking advantage of the outstanding fruition of human civilization and drawing lessons from what happened to other ethnic groups.

"The lessons include the collapse of communism in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, as well as the defeats of Germany and Japan in the past. Today I’d like to talk about the lessons of Germany and Japan. Germany was defeated in utter shame, along with its ally, Japan. Why? We reached some conclusions at the study meetings of the Politburo, in which we were searching for the laws that governed the vicissitudes of the big powers, and trying to analyze Germany and Japan’s rapid growth. When we decide to revitalize China based on the German model, we must not repeat the mistakes they made. For example, when the time came for them to be ruthless, they turned out to be too soft.

"The fundamental reason for the defeats of Germany and Japan is that history did not arrange them to be the 'lords of the earth,' for they are, after all, not the most superior race.

"Ostensibly, in comparison, today’s China is alarmingly similar to Germany back then. Both of them regard themselves as the most superior races; both of them have a history of being exploited by foreign powers and are therefore vindictive; both of them have the tradition of worshipping their own authorities; both of them feel that they have seriously insufficient living space; both of them raise high the two banners of nationalism and socialism and label themselves as 'national socialism'; both of them worship 'one state, one party, one leader, and one doctrine.'

"And yet, if we really are to make a comparison between Germany and China, then, as Comrade Jiang Zemin put it, Germany belongs to 'pediatrics'—too trivial to be compared. How large is Germany’s population? How big is its territory? And how long is its history? We eliminated eight million Nationalist troops in only three years. How many enemies did Germany kill? They were in power for a transient period of little more than a dozen years before they perished, while we are still energetic after being around for more than eighty years. Our theory of the shifting center of civilization is of course more profound than the Hitler’s theory of 'the lords of the earth.' Our civilization is profound and broad, which has determined that we are so much wiser than they were.

"Our Chinese people are wiser than the Germans because, fundamentally, our race is superior to theirs. As a result, we have a longer history, more people, and larger land area. On this basis, our ancestors left us with the two most essential heritages, which are atheism and great unity. It was Confucius, the founder of our Chinese culture, who gave us these heritages.

"These two heritages determined that we have a stronger ability to survive than the West. That is why the Chinese race has been able to prosper for so long. We are destined 'not to be buried by either heaven or earth' no matter how severe the natural, man-made, and national disasters. This is our advantage.

"Take response to war as an example. The reason that the United States remains today is that it has never seen war on its mainland. Once its enemies aim at the mainland, they enemies would have already reached Washington before its congress finishes debating and authorizes the president to declare war. But for us, we don’t waste time on these trivial things. Comrade Deng Xiaoping once said, 'The Party’s leadership is prompt in making decisions. Once a decision is made, it is immediately implemented. There’s no wasting time on trivial things like in capitalist countries. This is our advantage.' Our Party’s democratic centralism is built on the tradition of great unity. Although fascist Germany also stressed high-level centralism, they only focused on the power of the country’s executive, but ignored the collective leadership of the central group. That’s why Hitler was betrayed by many later in his life, which fundamentally depleted the Nazis of their war capacity.

"The bottom line is, only China, not Germany, is a reliable force in resisting the Western parliament-based democratic system. Hitler’s dictatorship in Germany was perhaps but a momentary mistake in history.

"Germany’s dream to be the 'lord of the earth' failed, because ultimately, history did not bestow this great mission upon them. But the three lessons Germany learned from experience are what we ought to remember as we complete our historic mission and revitalize our race. The three lessons are: Firmly grasp the country’s living space, firmly grasp the Party’s control over the nation, and firmly grasp the general direction toward becoming the “lord of the earth.”

END OF EXCERPTED QUOTES FROM GEN CHI HOTIAN.

as if the Chinese haven't practiced imperialism for thousands of years in Northern, Central, and Southeast Asia.

It is perfectly rational for them to defend and even expand their interests but don't paint them as wise and serene victims. They've been playing the great game before the West even existed.

China is waiting for the right moment to become a dominant player in Asia... In my opinion they want to control all of Asia... They are an all weather ally of Pakistan... I mean freaking Pakistan... where terrorism is sponsored 100% by the state players... China constantly poke Indian borders & make regular incursions... Support Iran's nuclear program .... China feels that whole of South China sea as their own backyard... threatening all the east Asian countries... I can go on and on...

I am not sure where you get your theory about no evidence of any territorial ambitions of China... get your facts straight...

In Chinese culture, they don't say no to your face... they will still smile and go with it until they get the upper hand...its in their culture... don't judge the book by its cover...

Apart from pakistan now their plan is to have military bases in sri lanka. Thier intention is clearly to dominate Asia and they will go any length to do it.

Ri Industries septic tanks

if you could trust your media thats run by your governement, why can't we trust our media thats independent.

A democratic society with a free press/media vis the dictatorship and censoring fascist CCP of Beijing. India has people, China has sheeple.