China

Fire of Liberty

While the War on Terror is continuing throughout the greater Middle East in nations like Afghanistan and Iraq, the White House & the Pentagon continue to focus on the larger strategic picture. The one area that has garnered a considerable amount of attention is China. According to The 2005 Quadrennial Defense Review, the Pentagon has offered a pessimistic as well a cautious outlook on China. Based on recent testimony by Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, DCI chief Porter Goss, and DIA director Admiral Jacoby, the Chinese are a merging concern in the region. Based on their testimony, China is becoming an emerging challenge because of its buildup of missiles across the Taiwan Strait, accelerated defense spending along with its ever-growing quest to build a blue water navy.

The subject of China will be an important issue in the President's visit to Europe this week, especially when Europe is calling for the end of the arms embargo against China which the US wants to resume due to the Tianamen incident in 1989. Along with the human rights concerns, President Bush is also concerned that the lifting of the embargo would further exacerbate China's quest for military/territorial expansion. While China provides a growing and dynamic market, it still has a long way to go on human liberty.

Time has come for China to become a part of the democratic world and expand human liberty and freedom to its people. Therefore, the US should continue its focus on either containing or rolling back the Chinese Dragon. Asia cannot be thrown into chains like Eastern Europe was under the Soviets. Freedom shouldn't be constrained by China or any other forces.