Asia's Arms Race Escalates To Keep Pace With China

The Wall Street Journal:

At Mazagon Dock near the southern tip of Mumbai, hidden behind high concrete walls, hundreds of Indian workers are putting the finishing touches on the hulls of two 217-foot Scorpène-class attack submarines, the first of six slated to be built over the next few years.

Read the whole story: The Wall Street Journal

Comments

[danew13]

11:21 AM on 03/12/2011

China, it seems, has hopes of eventually pushing America out of Asia and
securing for itself what the Japanese had tried to do before and during WW2…the creation a so called Co-Prosperity Sphere. Yet, in doing so, China is missing a golden opportunity as the emerging preeminent economic power.

Rather than China engaging in a costly arms race with America, why not simply put the US on its payroll doing what the US seems to love…being the world’s policeman. Because with a $14 trillion national debt America can’t support a global military force as it did during the Reagan Administration. It needs financial help. www.hard-truths.blogspot.com

[2n2]

11:34 PM on 02/14/2011

Projecting power means the ability to 'defend' claims to areas/islands, which would yield legal rights for the extraction of energy resources.

[2n2]

11:31 PM on 02/14/2011

Gee...

And here I thought they'd never have a clue what to do with all of that money...

[Erewhon7]

09:15 PM on 02/14/2011

India enemy is Pakistan. Pakistan's biggest enemy is-- Pakistan.
Right now China really has no enemies in the region, only competitors.
Especially after China entered strategic alliance with Russian Federation.

The fact that Chinese bought an old Soviet air carrier salvage and are rebuilding it makes no different whatsoever. they total budget is now approach the amount US military spends on MREs and uniforms.
Don't worry America, your Pacific fleet is safe from Chinese salvage carrier.

[Ken Reese]

12:40 PM on 02/20/2011

China's carrier is a white elephant (much like our f-22) that isn't meant so much as an useful war asset but as a show of strength for Domestic consumption.

No one who knows much about military affairs is worried about it, what were worried about are there advances in drones, subs, (specifically acoustics) ASBMs electronic warfare (and i don't mean those hookie CyberWar2100 bits) and the fact that they can Domestically produce everything they need to fight big wars while we Must buy the items we would need to fight them From them.

Oh then there's then threat of our wonderful value voting conservative policies that seem pretty much guaranteed to force China to feel like they need to start massing more strategic atomics.

In short we need to scale back our military while signing treaties with china to keep there military from growing. while that's going on we NEED TO REBUILD our industrial, mining and middle class tax base.

[xtiangodloki]

04:25 PM on 02/14/2011

Both India and China have nukes, India has also been quiet about Taiwan. This means that they are not going to invade each other. An arms race is a complete waste of time and money for these countries. The only people want this are the military defense makers of weapons.

[nakedempire]

02:55 PM on 02/14/2011

the coming superpower clash with china. read more: scary stuff

http://nakedempire.wordpress.com/

[Elias Maxwell]

01:26 PM on 02/14/2011

Note the source, it sounds like an investment opportunity for the readers of the source!

[atexasdem]

11:36 AM on 02/14/2011

I have absolutely no issue with other countries focusing on their own defense rather than expecting America to pay for it. Since WW2 America has been the "policeman to the world". We have either started or gotten involved in every conflict in every region of the world. Post WW2 when so many countries had been devastated I could see it, but times have changed. America can not afford nor should be "policeman to the world". With deficits threatening to bankrupt us and the collapse of high paying manufacturing jobs we simply can't afford it. For over fifty years the "free world" has taken advantage of the American military and the American tax dollars that sustain it.
It's time for America to refocus on rebuilding America. That's while we still have an America to rebuild.

[PresidentRobertBooth]

02:55 AM on 02/14/2011

We better do something before those Indian submarines do something!

[xiaodashan]

01:42 AM on 02/14/2011

The CCP 's long term policy for military hegemon in the Asian sphere is a long standing and open ambition.Ask any politician here.They want to displace American influence so they run the show (in the simplest terms).India wants to suck up to the USA because of the woeful state of their military ,if you give em enough rope they ll no doubt start thinking they are a world power for real and do something supremely stupid,(like completely destroying pristine environments such as the Andaman islands in their own backyards).More stupid half arsed one sided sabre rattling.

[Erewhon7]

07:17 AM on 02/14/2011

China, as an emerging superpower is fully entitled to exert their influence in their region.
And good for them. China, at this stage of their development, is so dependent on world trade that they have become a peaceful state.

[xiaodashan]

08:10 AM on 02/14/2011

I agree,i lived here in China a long time!

[StansDad]

10:52 AM on 02/14/2011

I wonder if the weaker nations that china will exert it's force upon will share your feeling of entitlement and war mongering

[ken607]

11:23 PM on 02/13/2011

any republicans want to tell me why i should be scared?

[Erewhon7]

07:20 AM on 02/14/2011

Reps will tell ya you should scared of godless commies.
Libs will blather on about Tienanmen Square and Tibet.

Two-sides of the same American domination coin.

[REDSTATEREFUGEE]

11:04 AM on 02/14/2011

So.....You do not understand the significance of Chinese repression in T-Square or in the country of Tibet? Liberals/progressives do not suggest that we go to war over these gross examples of tyranny.....

[atexasdem]

01:26 PM on 02/14/2011

You should be scared of - Non Christians, foreigners, homosexuals, all shades of "colored" people, liberals, the unemployed, any government agency, communists, Socialists, heathens and the dust bunnies under your bed.

[Edward Standley]

09:36 PM on 02/13/2011

China is on the road to riches, and they like it. I see real ,though slow, reforms in their future. There are people who want you to be afraid of China. They have their reasons.

[MMRDO]

09:39 PM on 02/13/2011

Why do you see reforms?

[mike72]

11:38 PM on 02/13/2011

China is going through massive social and economic reforms through the last three decades. If you don't see them, you are either ignorant or you are completely biased.

Reform does not equeal one man one vote Democracy. Or one dollar one vote Plutocracy.

[enigmatic zero]

08:47 PM on 02/13/2011

A very interesting interview with Dr.K.Subrahmanyam, the father of the current Indian_strategic thinkers, about the China issue, and the challenges facing President Obama.

The Interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQlgx3RI3F0

the conversation turns towards China at the 1.40 min mark.

His voice can be considered to be that of the Indian government's regarding these strategic issues, and interestingly enough he seems to be advocating an alliance of sorts between China's neighbors....not merely military(he explicitly states that military alliance alone, against Chinese expansionism would not work)but one that is both economic and ideological(a coalition of nations that advocate democratic and pluralist philosophies.) Its mostly due to his strategic vision India heavily ramped up its military and political engagement of nations around China..namely the US, Japan, Vietnam and South Korea.

[[K. Subrahmanyam was a prominent international strategic affairs analyst, journalist and former Indian civil servant. Considered a proponent of Realpolitik, Subrahmanyam has long been an influential voice in Indian security affairs. He was most often referred to as the doyen of India's strategic affairs community, and, more contentiously, as the premier ideological champion of India's nuclear deterrent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K._Subrahmanyam
]]

Note: Subrahmanyam passed away two weeks ago, aged 82.

[enigmatic zero]

09:01 PM on 02/13/2011

The direct result of such a line of strategic thinking, which in turn was partly a response to the Chinese strategy of "string of pearls" is what is now known as the "Look East Policy"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Look_East_policy

[[
India's "Look East" Policy, which was initiated in 1991, marked a strategic shift in India’s perspective of the world. It was developed and enacted during the government of Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and rigorously pursued by the successive governments of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh. According to Sunanda K. Datta-Ray, the author of the only book-length study of this policy, Looking East to Look West: Lee Kuan Yew's Mission India, Rao devised the policy as only the first stage of a strategy to foster economic and security cooperation with the United States. ..
Along with economic liberalisation and moving away from Cold War-era policies and activities, India's strategy has focused on forging close economic and commercial ties, increasing strategic and security cooperation and the emphasis of historic cultural and ideological links. India sought to create and expand regional markets for trade, investments and industrial development. It also began strategic and military cooperation with nations concerned by the expansion of China's economic and strategic influence.]]

[mike72]

12:00 AM on 02/14/2011

What real chips do India have over China? I seriously can not find one.

So what kind of military cooperations India can possibly have that possess real threat to China? I still can not find one. OK, maybe Indian Ocean but that is US Empire's backyard. US is not going to let India have a say over its strategic trade route.

So what does India have? I scratch my head hard and can not come up with one. The only remotely possible answer I have is that India is trying to drum up its empty talks and trying to get some military and economic concession from the West. Realistically, India has no intention of facing China.

"Talk tough; Take the money; and Run at glimpse of risk." That is all I can sum up about India over China issue.

[harveyr2]

08:46 PM on 02/13/2011

Those who fear that China will ever take America's place as the leader of the world are ignorant of geography.

China must defend its borders against incursion by Japan, Russia, and India. They can not project power across the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. America is blessed with peaceful neighbors and is the sole country able to project power across the two major oceans. That, as much as our founding documents is the source of our power today and in the future.

[Zakaria72]

09:34 PM on 02/13/2011

America's place in the world is no longer of a leader but more of an imperialist violent force.

China's future role in keeping America's imperialism in check would be very welcome by the rest of the world.

[atexasdem]

12:19 PM on 02/14/2011

"China's future role in keeping America's imperialis­m in check would be very welcome by the rest of the world".
I don't agree with you. It is my opinion that today more countries trust America than they do China. While America's record and hands are certainly far from clean, China too has much bad history. Given the choice between the two I think that more would prefer to be under American influence.
The problem is that while China is on the rise economicly, America is on the decline. The question each country must ask itself is who would be the better long term economic partner. It's becoming obvious that America can no longer afford to finance it's massive military. China is going to have to prove to the world and to less developed countries that they can be trusted to be good partners in trade and development. That's going to take some time.

[mike72]

11:42 PM on 02/13/2011

Zakaria72,

You are right on.

"America's place in the world is no longer of a leader but more of an imperialis­t violent force."

In another term, America's world leadership is basically Mafia Rule: you don't pay protection money (in the form of using US Dollar as trading tokens or sucking in T-Bills), we will make your social and economic siutations non-sustainable.