"Am I therefore become your enemy,because I TELL YOU THE TRUTH...?"
(Galatians 4:16)

China's paths to hegemony

Much that is discussed about China's foreign policy and security posture these days revolves around military matters-warships and fighter planes bought from Russia, 1,300 missiles aimed at Taiwan, and the latest maneuvers of the People's Liberation Army.Another side to China's emerging might, however, is what some pundits call "soft power" or "smiling diplomacy" or the "charm offensive." Most of that involves application of China's expanding economy to trade, aid and investment to achieve political ends.In a wider context, China's soft power seems integral to what may be a campaign to revive the Middle Kingdom, the China of yesteryear that dominated Asia. Chinese armies won't march across international borders but rather Beijing seeks to acquire such political, economic and diplomatic clout that major decisions in every Asian capital will require Chinese approval.A scholar who specializes in China, Joshua Kurlantzick, has written: "China may want to shift influence away from the United States to create its own sphere of influence, a kind of Chinese Monroe Doctrine for Southeast Asia where countries would subordinate their interests to China's, and would think twice about supporting the United States." (President James Monroe proclaimed in 1823 that outside powers would not be permitted to intervene in the affairs of the Western Hemisphere.)In a fresh assessment, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) in Washington, says China has been mostly, but not completely, successful in Southeast Asia: "Beijing has largely allayed Southeast Asian concerns that China poses a military or economic threat." In contrast, the United States is perceived as having "waning or limited attention" to Southeast Asia.China's ability to influence Southeast Asians, the CRS report contends, "largely stems from its role as a major source of foreign aid, trade, and investment." In addition, overseas Chinese communities in almost every Southeast Asian nation "have long played important parts in the economies, societies and cultures of Southeast Asian states."One set of figures is illuminating. China's imports of Southeast Asian goods from 1997 to 2006 soared 674 percent, to $89.5 billion. In the same period, U.S. imports rose 57 percent, to $111 billion. When the 2007 figures are in, China will more likely have bought more from Southeast Asia than the United States.The Chinese have concentrated their economic assistance on Burma and Laos on their southern border, and on Cambodia, reached through Laos. They are also the poorest countries in the region. A U.S.-shunned authoritarian junta rules Burma, or Myanmar.
To read more go to:

As in the days of Noah....