On China...

I used to have a text from college that cited a speech given by Stalin after the "cold war" between Mao and Uncle Joe heated up... the break between Maoism and Stalinism. In the speech, he said that China had betrayed the Communist effort, and reverted to "fascism".

The speech was then "edited out" of Soviet archives because the Party elite didn't want to give the impression that "fascism" was one of the end products of the "communist" effort. In short, Big Joe stuck his foot in his mouth, and they had to change history so know one could know.

I've lost the text, it seems, so I can't cite the book or the speech, other than to say that Joe wasn't far wrong, in my estimation. "Maoism" isn't fascism... but it isn't communism either.

China has a growing and thriving free-market economic society... because they allow individual people to OWN private property and/or private business. The only requirement is that you must join the Party to do so. You don't have to join the Party... but if you don't, no chance exists that you will be able to dabble in the newly formed Chinese Stock Market or buy a pizza stand outside one of the Olympic venues.

I'm not playing apologist for the Chinese system here... they are a legitimate threat to Western democracy as it is understood to exist, and they are trying to expand their influence globally... especially by expanding their naval capacity to project force. In terms of numbers, their nuclear forces are rather limited... but this is a bit of a mute point, too. They probably don't have more than between 200 and 350 warheads total... but that is still a LOT of warheads.

The threat the Chinese constitute to the West is based almost entirely on its ability to consume limited resources at a rate that will very soon surpass our own. Everything from lumber to coal to oil to silver and platinum and zinc... the Chinese and their growing economy have the ability to consume enough of a chunk of existing supplies that nearly any commodity that you care to mention that is traded on a global market is at risk of being driven beyond the 30-year curve in price by the whim of a State-controlled economy which covers 25% of the global population.

For example... China right now uses as much fossil fuels as the entire continent of Africa, but can only supply about 55% of its own needs. THAT kind of dependence on foreign supply could lead the Chinese to attempt to control larger segments of the supply chain than they normally would deem needed... and the question WE face is how is that control going to come about? Partnerships already exist between China and Iran, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Sudan, Chad, and numerous other "questionable" Islamic states (notice that the Iraqis now have a Chinese embassy again?) that can supply vital crude oil to the Chinese. Is it any wonder why they play such hardball games at the Security Council when it comes to resolutions against Iran? They block meaningful resolutions... and Iran keeps the tap on Chinese-bound oil flowing freely. Where do you suppose the Iranians got the Silkworm missiles from? Russia?

This is the explanation for the "tip-toe" attitude when it comes to Chinese foreign policy that we have seen coming from the White House for nearly 10 years... don't piss of the Chinese off, whatever the cost. I don't like it... but I guess we have to live with it for now.