Inside the Ring -- Washington Times

China disconnect

Expanding U.S. military exchanges with China could help reduce an apparent "disconnect" between China's military and civilian leaders, but caution is needed to guard against possible spying and disinformation efforts. That's one of the key points in a draft report for the secretary of state by the International Security Advisory Board, a panel of outside experts.

The draft report by a task force headed by Robert Joseph, former undersecretary of state for international security, was obtained by The Washington Times and is expected to be completed in a few weeks. It identifies a "separation" between Chinese political and military leaders that it says has been a cause of concern in the past. It gives as an example the April 2001 incident in which a Chinese interceptor jet flew into a U.S. P-3 surveillance aircraft, killing the Chinese pilot and nearly causing the U.S. plane to crash.

"The disconnect between China's civilian leadership and the [People's Liberation Army] may have contributed to potentially dangerous incidents," the report states, noting as an example "the forced landing of the P-3 in 2001."

"While clearly an internal matter for China, addressing this disconnect could reduce the prospects for miscalculation and misunderstanding," it states.

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My Comment: An interesting analysis on China's military and political relationships. It is clear that China's command and control centers operate differently from American command and control centers.

But what strikes me about this article is the follwoing:

A new report by the Pentagon and Department of Energy warns that the U.S. nuclear weapons deterrent is in serious trouble.

"While the service lives of existing warhead types are being extended through refurbishment, at present the United States does not have the ability to produce new nuclear weapons," the September report says.

OK .... with a budget of $500 billion dollars, one has to wonder how much more is necessary .... or possible .... or even wanted. Bottom line .... it seems that there is never enough money or manpower to get what you want. My fear is that for a country like China .... there is enough money and manpower to get what they want.