Far Eastern Front

With all the attention on the war against America in the Middle East, there’s a danger that Washington will neglect the dangerous trends on the Far Eastern front. The risks there are highlighted by a report of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission that is scheduled to be released to Congress today.The New York Sun has obtained an advance copy of the report’s executive summary and its recommendations to Congress and they present a sobering portrait – all the more so for the fact they were endorsed unanimously by the members of the bi-partisan commission, which included representatives from business and labor. “A number of the current trends in U.S.-China relations have negative implications for our long-term economic and national security interests,” the report warns. “U.S. policies in these areas are in need of urgent attention and course corrections.”The gravest aspects of the report relate to Communist China’s military aspirations. “China’s quantitative and qualitative military advancements have resulted in a dramatic shift in the cross-Strait military balance toward China, with serious implications for Taiwan, for the U.S. and for cross-Strait relations.” The report also warns that Chinese estate companies that have “direct affiliation” with top levels of the Red Chinese government or military are selling weapons of mass destruction-related items to countries of concern to America.Also ominous is Red China’s trammeling of the press. “Despite the Chinese government’s much-heralded reversal of policy to encourage more open and accurate reporting of SARS during last year’s outbreak, there has in practice been no fundamental change in the Chinese government’s approach to controlling the media including information available through the Internet,” the report says.The report also warns of “the in balanced U.S.-China trade relationship.” The report says, “It has contributed to the erosion of manufacturing jobs and jobless recovery in the United States.” The report notes “China’s labor markets do not provide adequate recognition of workers’ rights, thereby resulting in artificially low wages that disadvantage our economic interests.”One doesn’t have to buy into all the language in the report. Our recovery turns out not to be jobless by any means. And the war against terror in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East is more than enough to keep Congress and the president’s national security team occupied. But to judge by the report of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, the Far Eastern front deserves careful attention as well.

Far Eastern Front

Far Eastern Front

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