bala wrote:A relationship was established with China and the fruits of which are in evidence today. From a security perspective of the the US, it was a master stroke by Kissinger/Nixon - and widely viewed as such.
>>ShauryaT, please explain this dichotomy. What fruits are in evidence? Come again.
Me sitting in the US being able to wear almost 90% of my wardrobe for 10% of the price for comparable US clothes - if found anyhere. So, that, I can spend the 90% on buying more, saving more, investing more - reduces prices, keeps inflation in check.
The ability of companies to reinvent themselves by outsourcing low value jobs for its economy and forcing itself and its employees to reinvent itself and create new value and products. - Promotes invention due to necessity - the mother of all reasons.
Create a significant presence in one of the largest emerging economies in the world, in a way that as it grows the most likely companies to benefit from such growth are US corporations. E.G : Walmart. This process creates wealth for US companies, who may choose to repatriate the profits back to the US, if that is how the best see the use of their profits, as done to the tune of $350 billion, last year. US companies made 50% of their revenue outside the US for the first time last year - a trend likely to continue, due to growth of India and China.
>>The China policy is a sheer disaster waiting to happen.
We are still waiting.....waiting....waiting....you get my drift
>>The shift in manufacturing to China is really not helping the US long term.
Yes, I agree, it will not help at all in the very long term, when China will manufacture everything, and the US Nada. China would just wish they own the IP to the next generation of OLED devices and 70% of the new bio-drugs filings were not in the US. I mean, what do you have against the Chinese in general and your arguments are sounding like being agains globalization in general.
>>There are rumblings from the Congress about loss of jobs, blah blah.
The same blah blah was there against Japan in the 80 and early 90's.
>>China controls 1T in US bonds.
So, does Japan - a simliar amount. Who controls whom in that scenario is still not resolved. Getting off this drug of fiscal deficits is not out of reach for the US and it has been done less than a decade back and will be done again.
>>From a security perspective the new threat the US faces is CHina.
Except for China's economic growth and its corresponding investments into its military infrastructure as a result of this growth, nothing has really changed in the security environment. The alternative is for the US to design policies to keep China poor and isolated. Even if the US can do that, it is a proven fact that, so far, the reduction of prices in a vast number of consumer goods has helped the US - in every measure.
>>All that the Nixon/Kissinger plan did was a short term fix/patch for the Soviet problem but the long term damage is enormous.
I agree that Nixon/Kissinger had a short term agenda, with a long term vision. The short term was a master stroke for the US. The vision has worked so far. There is a risk with China - almost all of it stemming from its non democratic character. We will see, if the capitalism of china eventually succeeds in making a smooth democratic transition of some kind or the communist leadership manages to subvert, its own and world capitalism - as some rumors suggest. I believe, this US risk is worthwhile.
>>My malaysian friend always says this about a China man: he may be down now but he will always come back.
Your Malaysian friend is conditioned by circumstances in his country, where the ethnic Chinese control the world of business and there is a level of animosity due to the success of the ethnic Chinese in their country.
>>The Chinese long term plan is at odds with the US. Economically the Chinese play to win the strangle hold on money/commerce and thus clout. Right now things may appear benign but make no mistake about the future. As an example, there are pockets in US where Chinese take over entire shopping complexes and drive out any competition completely. The US is going to face this problem eventually on the economic front from China.
As I said, we are all still waiting for that eventual problem, I guess because the Chinese gene must be working differently from everyone else in Asia.
>>Security is another problem. All the Asian nations surrounding China feel threatened by a rising China and its modernization of the armed forces. There is palpable fear.
There is anxiety and hope. Both stem from a rising but undemocratic China. It also stems from a possible conflict between the interests of a rising China and a dominant US and its presence in the region.
>>China is a conquering nation and would not think twice about invasion of another country.
China has been under tremendous changes over the past 100-150 years, just like India. China has the same views about India that India and Indians have ambitions to conquer, what they say belongs to China.
It is my view that underlying all this animosity is the particular form of government in China. If China were to suddenly transition to a democratic form of governance with religious freedom, one will see that the Indic and Chinese world views are far more synergistic than opposing and its disputes can be resolved.
So, do not close your mind and judge China for what China did under Mao. It will change - is the only guarantee, as the regime in China is strong but superficial.
>>Long term the US faces a Chinese challenge on the security front, no ifs ands or buts.
I agree, a rising China will challenge the US, especially in the common pond they share. This is inevitable and would be considered normal for a nation the size of China. It is upto the US to a degree on how to respond to this unfettered hegemonic hyper power base it enjoys today and accommodate other rising powers or not.