April 17, 2007:
China's intense interest in recent American naval exercises off Guam (which appeared to be a rehearsal for a
defense of Taiwan), has put the spotlight on how China could hope to deal with
such American support for Taiwan. There are many signs of how such Chinese
countermeasures might work. The recent
Chinese anti-satellite system test shows they can knock down U.S. spy
satellites. China is also working on micro (under half a ton) satellites. If
they can build an anti-satellite satellite weighing less than half a ton, they
can launch several with one booster. That would give them a chance to knock
down enough American satellites to temporarily "blind" the U.S. Navy.
At that point, Chinese anti-ship missiles and submarines would be more potent
against American carriers. This is the sort of thinking China is encouraging in
its military. It's also ancient Chinese strategic thinking. That is, don't go
after superior enemy head on, but, rather, come at him sideways. Then again, ancient Chinese military thinkers
preached winning without fighting. That worked better when it was Chinese
versus Chinese. Foreigners tend to be more inscrutable.
April 14, 2007:
Japan has asked for an extension to its agreement to remove World War II
chemical weapons its forces left behind in 1945. At the time, Japan has some
two million tons of chemical weapons stored in 40 Chinese locations. Most of
this has been destroyed, but some of it was harder to deal with. Also, some of
the chemical weapons cannot be found. So Japan wants to extend the deadline, for
removal, to 2012. Reminders of World War II, like this, continue to maintain
negative public attitudes towards Japan.
