Written by Frank Li
11 November 2015
In response to the recent U.S. hostility (e.g. Ukraine), Russian President Putin famously said: Vladimir Putin: Don’t mess with nuclear-armed Russia. No Chinese leader has publicly taken a similar position, yet, despite the recent U.S. provocative actions (U.S. warship sails close to Chinese artificial island on South China Sea). But as a Chinese-American, I must warn my fellow Americans now: don’t mess with nuclear-armed China!
1. South China Sea
Simply put, China’s actions (e.g. building on uninhabited islands) are questionable, but America’s actions (e.g. sending warships there) are utterly provocative!
Here is an excerpt from a recent news story (South China Sea: Beijing 'not frightened' to fight a war after US move):
China is not afraid of fighting a war against the United States in the South China Sea, a state-run newspaper with links to the Communist party has claimed.
Is there any truth to China's "not afraid" claim? Yes - Perhaps they are that foolish!
2. A rumored conversation between China and America
I was in China October 16-26, during which I heard a rumored conversation between a hawkish Chinese general and a hawkish American general as follows:
Chinese General (CG): If your ship comes all the way to the South China Sea to challenge us, we would respond.
American General (AG): How?
CG: If your ship comes into our waters, we will sink it.
AG: If you fire at our ship, we will destroy your entire Navy. Don't you think we can do that?
CG: Yes, you can! But we will then launch missiles to wipe out all your military bases in Asia and sink all your aircraft carriers in the Pacific Ocean. Don't you think we can do that?
AG: Um ...
CG: I take that as "Yes". What would you do then? Nuke us?
AG: Well, we may ...
CG: Well, you may have enough nuclear war-heads to blow up the earth several times over, but we have enough to blow America up several times over! We think that's a good enough deterrent - Don't you agree?
If this rumored conversation were real, would it make sense to you? If yes, why should America go all the way to the South China Sea to play with fire? It’s MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction)! For more, read: Weapons of Mass Destruction.
3. Discussion
Can America really afford to have a direct military conflict with China or Russia (U.S. jets intercept Russian planes near aircraft carrier), or worse, with both at the same time? No! For more, read: Three New Kingdoms. Yet, that's exactly what we are driving to - We sanctioned Russia on Ukraine (A Pseudo Conversation between President Obama and Ukraine PM) and we are provoking China in the South China Sea, without real American interests directly involved whatsoever! Because of that, we do not seem to know what we are doing in the South China Sea! Here is an informative reading: Washington’s Muddled Message in the South China Sea.
More profoundly, why is America’s foreign policy, from the Middle East to Ukraine and to the South China Sea, so poorly thought out and self-destructive? Blame democracy, as we practice it today! Three informative readings:
The simple truth is that despite America's strong self-assurances, we have not truly been the only super-power on earth since 1991, when the Cold War ended! Two points:
Militarily, Russia has been just as powerful and dangerous as the USSR was throughout the Cold War. For more, read: Russia Now Has More Deployed Nuclear Warheads than the U.S.
Economically, China has been dramatically advancing over the past few decades, and is well on her way to unseating us as the largest economy on earth by 2030, with no end in sight.
Beyond Russia and China, do we not already have enough international problems, from ISIS to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp? Is the South China Sea really a matter of national security for America? Will this be another failure in America’s containment strategy against China as in the case of the AIIB (For America, AIIB and Ukraine Are Related!)? A bluff is a dangerous tactic, if it comes to actually fulfilling it!
The recently strengthened Russia-China alliance will prove to be a nightmare for America (America vs. the World), but America, in her arrogance, seems blissfully unaware of it!
4. A simple analogy
Here is a simple analogy for my fellow Americans: treating the “disputed” islands in the South China Sea together as Crimea, and expecting China’s position similar to Russia’s, accordingly. Our response should therefore be accordingly, too - nothing! Why? Because anything more than nothing would be MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction)!
In short, do not interfere in the South China Sea! Instead, let the affected people work out their differences, over time, in their own way. Two recent news stories:
5. Closing
America, don't mess with nuclear-armed China (or Russia)! Instead, learn to peacefully co-exist!
Let me conclude the article, as I began, with President Putin – Watch the video below. It is safe to assume that the Chinese leaders think along the same line as President Putin does, although none of them has yet to say anything like that in public …
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