China is stirring: why now?

“For better or for worse, our US openness and the perceived weakness of our laws encourages the Chinese to believe that America doesn’t really care about deterring or catching Chinese spies or law violators,” a Pentagon official who spoke to us on the condition of anonymity told us.

“There are Chinese spies everywhere in America: we know it and they know we know it. We just don’t really do much about it unless what they do is really quiet serious or blatantly wrong,” the same official told me.

Weakness of the “lame duck” president

The midterm elections in November 2006 were a stinging blow to President Bush and the Republican Party. Control of the House and the senate shifted to the Democratic Party. By many accounts, the president of the United States became a “lame duck” president, with very limited power and influence until he is replaced by a new man - or woman.

This is the kind of situation that emboldens Chinese leaders. In no nation is more duck eaten than in China.

Another piece of troubling news from China: China’s military is delaying the US visit of its strategic nuclear forces commander despite a promise by Chinese President Hu Jintao last year that the general would hold talks with the US Strategic Command leader.

Caroline Bartholomew, chairman of the congressional US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, said Beijing’s failure to respond to the US office is a concern. “The commission recommended a [US-China] dialogue on strategic-forces issues to ensure that both China and the United States understand the lines in the sand,” she said. “There are certain acts which have traditionally been and will continue to be seen as hostile, such as blinding satellites and threatening a nuclear attack on our cities.”

Miss Bartholomew said “we must hope that Gen. Jing’s lack of responsiveness to the invitation to visit US Strategic Command, despite the fact that he has been elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere, does not reflect Chinese government disinterest in strategic warning and mutual threat-reduction measures.”