Chinese PLA (army) officers urge economic punch against U.S.

[Psephos]

Source: Reuters

BEIJING (Reuters) - Senior Chinese military officers have proposed that their country boost defense spending, adjust PLA deployments, and possibly sell some U.S. bonds to punish Washington for its latest round of arms sales to Taiwan.

The calls for broad retaliation over the planned U.S. weapons sales to the disputed island came from officers at China's National Defence University and Academy of Military Sciences, interviewed by Outlook Weekly, a Chinese-language magazine published by the official Xinhua news agency. The interviews with Major Generals Zhu Chenghu and Luo Yuan and Senior Colonel Ke Chunqiao appeared in the issue published on Monday.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) plays no role in setting policy for China's foreign exchange holdings. Officials in charge of that area have given no sign of any moves to sell U.S. Treasury bonds over the weapons sales, a move that could alarm markets and damage the value of China's own holdings. While far from representing fixed government policy, the open demands for retaliation by the PLA officers underscored the domestic pressures on Beijing to deliver on its threats to punish the Obama administration over the arms sales.

"Our retaliation should not be restricted to merely military matters, and we should adopt a strategic package of counter-punches covering politics, military affairs, diplomacy and economics to treat both the symptoms and root cause of this disease," said Luo Yuan, a researcher at the Academy of Military Sciences.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6183KG20100209

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The officers are saying exactly what they've been told to say by Hu Jintao. As U.S. deficits continue spiraling out of control, the day is coming soon when Hu will not see a need to speak through proxies.

[Rapier09]

1. The US has been mislead

The EU is cleaning up house so that anyone Greek or otherwise who gets too cozy with Goldman is going to get the ax and it looks like China is preparing to do the same.

Obama isn't to blame but the level of greed in the Party as well as the opposition has pretty much sunk this ship.

[Proletariatprincess]

2. This is what the US Defense contractors were hoping for...

It was no coincidence that just when Obama hinted at cuts in the defense budget, the military industrial complex made the decision to sell arms to Taiwan with the clear understanding that such a provocative act would elicit such a response from China. Soon we will hear how important it is to spend more tax dollars on defense in response to China's belligerents.

[AtheistCrusader]

3. If I understand the policy correctly

no sales of munitions of this nature can be done without state department approval.

[Proletariatprincess]

4. In a dysfuncional system like ours

the Defense Department is capable of making it's own rules without regard to other branches of government. I believe that a coup has already taken place quietly. There is too much money involved for silly things like laws to dictate to the Mightiest Military Power The World Has Ever Seen.

[AtheistCrusader]

5. No, they can't.

Munitions exports are tightly controlled by the State Department. The DOD certainly isn't doing this on their own, and if the manufacturers are, they are exposing themselves to major federal jail time.

They used to classify RSA encryption as a munition, and forbid exporting any computer software that contained it (like Windows NT 4.0) to China. There is no end run around this. If these arms sales were legal, they were vetted by the State Department. They are of importance that any such sales probably crossed Hillary's desk, and Obama was probably notified or consulted.

[Proletariatprincess]

10. Major federal jail time?

What makes you think the DOD and the manufacturers are not the same entity?

[AtheistCrusader]

12. Because they aren't.

Any more than the FDA and pharmaceutical companies are the same entity.

[rayofreason]

6. Expect more of this...

...from China, and on a growing range of issues. At least until the Chinese house of cards collapses.

You think we had a real estate bubble? Demographic problems that will bankrupt social security? You ain't seen nothing yet. There will be a huge "correction" in China as these issues work themselves out. How will it turn out? The Chinese have a proverb about "interesting times"....

[DeSwiss]

7. +1

Exactly.

K&R

[FreakinDJ]

9. The Chinese word for "Crisis" and "Opportunity" are the same

[proteus_lives]

15. Amen.

You nailed. When China implodes, it won't be pretty.

[Ganja Ninja]

8. I welcome this.

Please China punch us hard right in the face. We need it to wake us up.

[amandabeech]

11. If we are to be dependent on the world for everything that we need,

then we need peace everywhere through infinity.

That simply has never happened, and if it takes sabre rattling from the Chinese military to get some of the idiots in DC, and in this I include our president, to realize that supply lines running across a huge ocean to the sabre rattling power could be cut leaving us without sufficient basic supplies, like chemicals and computer chips, then so be it.

[Blue_Tires]

13. what are we doing selling arms to Taiwan?

[cowman]

14. Ummmm Maybe

because they are an ally

[proteus_lives]

16. So the PLA doesn't march in and starting putting people against a wall.