Not So Warm And Fuzzy: Amid Political Tensions At Home, China’s Military Leaders Play Safe Abroad --- The Economist
FOR China’s armed forces, these are troubling times. On June 2nd in Singapore, America’s defence secretary, Leon Panetta, said that 60% of his country’s combat ships would be deployed in Asia by 2020, up from about half now. China’s generals see their country as the target, and worry that other Asian countries are ganging up with America. But politics at home appears an even greater concern.
America’s announcement last November of a “rebalancing” of its foreign policy towards Asia riled hawks in China. The United States, they fumed in newspaper articles, was trying to “contain” China and put a brake on its rising power. Mr Panetta dismissed such accusations. “Our effort to renew and intensify our involvement in Asia is fully compatible—fully compatible—with the development and growth of China,” he said at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual meeting in Singapore of regional defence ministers and security experts.
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My Comment: China is gripped with a succession crisis .... who is going to be in charge is more important to the Chinese defense department (for now) than U.S. moves in the region or neighboring states protesting Chinese territorial demands.
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