CHINA'S MULT-BILLION DOLLAR DEALS, ALLIANCES WITH SAUDI ARABIA, IRAN, INDIA, PAKISTAN
CHINA BUILDS UP ARMS TO DESTROY US SHIPS
While the United States is emptying its Treasury into the 'War On Iraq', distracted, trapped and deeply troubled, China has been busily sewing up energy and trade deals with four nations set to become the biggest power players on the international stage in the next decade : Saudi Arabia, Iran, India and Pakistan. To say nothing of their quiet, slow infiltration of Africa and renewed 'friendship' with Russia.
Of course, it's easy to argue that China's military strategists well knew, as did many others around the world, that the United States would sink into an Iraq War quagmire once Saddam Hussein was deposed and the Iraqi Army and police forces were disbanded. Regardless of whether or not China knew what would become reality in Iraq, they were ready to make the massive world power plays now unfolding.
It's also decidely clear now that Russia and China will neither back major sanctions against Iran, nor support any military action by the United States to take out its nuclear energy facilities. At the same time, behind the scenes, Russia and China have made it well clear to the US and Israel that they will not tolerate any sabotage (in lieu of officially military strikes) on Iran, nor further moves to destabilise the country, the regime or the region.
US Vice President Dick Cheney went begging to Saudi Arabia a few days ago to help sort out the mess in Iraq, and President Bush and Secretary Of State Condoleezza Rice are about to head to the Middle East to beg some more.
Meanwhile, China stands back and waits, holding more than a trillion US dollars in its reserves, prepared to take massive losses on its US debt holdings now the US is buying less and less Chinese products.
China has been rapidly expanding and creating new markets for its low-cost, high production products in India, Pakistan and soon enough Saudia Arabia and Iran as well.
The question now is what will the United States do to counter the continual, rapidly increasing rise of China to the top ranks of world powers?
When China can literally destroy the entire US economy in a matter of days, by utterly dumping its US debt holdings on the world markets at the first signs of true aggression, it seems the United States has no cards left to play. Outside of friendship and good relations. China insists on it, and not just for China, but for Iran as well.
From the International Herald Tribune :
And this from the Khaleej Times :Iran and China have moved a step closer to signing an energy deal worth as much as $100 billion, with the Islamic republic saying it had invited China Petrochemical's managing director to Tehran to sign an accord first reached in 2004.
The contract for Sinopec Group, as China Petrochemical is known, to develop the Yadavaran oil field in Iran and secure oil and gas supplies over a 25-year period is complete and ready to be signed, Petroenergy Information Network, the Iranian oil ministry news agency, said Saturday.
Iran, under U.S. economic sanctions and at odds with the United States and the European Union over its nuclear activities, is seeking friendlier markets. China and Russia said in October that they would oppose a draft resolution imposing United Nations sanctions on Iran for its nuclear program.
China’s insatiable demand for oil — and Saudi Arabia’s position as the world’s top exporter—have become the basis for a trade partnership that analysts say could upset (Saudi Arabia) Riyadh’s decades-old oil-for-security relationship with Washington.
Saudi Arabia has become the key regional player as China quietly moves onto traditional US turf in the Middle East.
This new alignment has also seen China boosting ties with six booming Gulf Arab states, including oil producers Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
China National Offshore Oil Co. (CNOOC) is in talks with Qatar for liquefied natural gas supplies, PetroChina is studying plans with Kuwait to build a refinery and petrochemical complex in South China, and Aramco is negotiating refinery joint ventures in China.
China’s economic thrust has coincided with a time when US prestige in the Arab world is at a low ebb due to the Iraq war and US support for Israel.
In addition, once-cosy US-Saudi ties have not fully recovered from the shock of the Sept. 11 attacks in which 15 of the 19 suicide hijackers were Saudis. This has hit the oil-for-security “special relationship” long based on the role of US military forces as guarantor of Saudi Arabia’s safety, largely to protect huge Saudi oilfields.
Saudi Aramco was the largest supplier of oil to China for the last four years, in addition to being the biggest supplier to India, Japan, South Korea and Singapore.
China has even started discussions with Aramco to provide it with a strategic oil reserve, opening up the possibility of future tension over global access to Saudi crude oil.
Chietigj Bajpaee, research associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., said China risks being seen as trying to “lock up” Saudi oil at the expense of Washington, or India, another Asian tiger economy with a billion-plus population and a voracious appetite for oil.
“(China and the United States) have an increasingly symbiotic relationship,” Bajpaee said. “This has led to fears in the United States that China is encroaching into its ’sphere of influence’ and undermining relations with its traditional allies.”
As China moves to solidify its power on the world economic stage, so too it arms itself to cope with any and all the military strengths of the United States. China is rapidly closing the gap with the United States in regards to military strength. And that's only what they're currently disclosing, or allowing American spies and intelligence agents to know. The true secrets of China's military strength, and future combat systems, are buried far below the earth, well out of sight of the United States' and Israel's spies and spy satellites.
From the Washington Times :
China's military buildup includes new missiles and naval weapons designed to sink U.S. aircraft carriers and deny U.S. forces access to the Asia-Pacific region, a congressional commission official said yesterday.
Daniel Blumenthal, a former Pentagon defense policy-maker and now a member of the U.S.-China Economic Security Review Commission, said China's military is building up forces to "deny the United States the use of the commons -- the sea, the air, cyber and space."
"The Chinese have been quite successful ... in the area of sea denial, meaning that if we sent a carrier to or outside the [Taiwan] Strait as we did in 1996, it would be a lot riskier and a lot costlier to the United States...."
The comments followed disclosure last week that a Chinese submarine sailed undetected to within five miles of the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk near Okinawa, Japan, and surfaced close enough to fire wake-homing torpedos or anti-ship cruise missiles, according to U.S. defense officials.
...Chinese weapons include 10 different types of ballistic and cruise missiles and up to 800 missiles aimed at Taiwan, five different types of submarines and 15 types of new warships.
Beijing's military also is experimenting with new attack concepts, including land-based attacks on ships "through multiple entry concepts" in what Mr. Blumenthal called "a very serious effort to try to basically sink a carrier or battle group."
The report revealed that China's new DF-21C ballistic missile is being configured with a guidance system that will allow it to attack ships at sea and defeat shipborne missile defenses.
The report stated that China's warships and submarines could delay the arrival of U.S. Navy forces called on to defend Taiwan....
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China Official Admits Difficulties In Countries With Large US Reserves To Dump Dollar
United States Domination Of Middle East Ending As China Moves In
China In The Middle East Is A Minefield For The United States
