When a sleeping giant stirs, chances all the elves feel the tremors — up from the ground through their entire bodies. Such is the case with China’s ever growing military. It has the world’s largest armed forces, numbering a staggering 2.3 million men and women enlisted in the various services. Statements made by their foreign minister at the recently concluded ASEAN meeting have made its neighbors wary. His statements that the China’s noticeable military build-up was for peaceful purposes have raised eyebrows throughout the region. A peaceful military build-up is an oxymoron of grand proportions.
Apparently, the newest kid on the block of economic superpowers is trying to downplay this rise in military strength by stating that its military growth will only be for cooperation and security in the region, and to combat terrorists. But the foreign minister also countered by accusing the region of having a cold war mentality in that alliances are still being made by the West to match that of China’s obvious military might. A looming defense pact between Japan, Australia and the US has apparently made Beijing take notice. In the old days, these would be considered fighting words. But the world is a different place now and thank God for that.
But it is and will always be difficult to ignore China, especially when it flexes its military and economic muscle. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in this year’s SunValley Conference in Idaho, USA repeated the line every three sentences, in other terms saying: “We have to get China to cooperate with us — in writing”. Considering China still sees Taiwan as hostile, one cannot discount these “scheduled” exercises as dry-runs to take back the renegade province. Taiwan, of course, is a US ally. And for such a small nation, its military strength is nothing to scoff at either. Hence, the posturing of the two toughies in the neighborhood. The US is keeping a close eye. China may be keeping it closer. In 2001, relations between the US and China were strained when respective warplanes collided over the South China Sea. The Chinese fighter crashed into the sea while the US surveillance plane was forced to land on a Chinese airport. The US spy plane’s crew was repatriated a month after the incident, while the plane was allowed to return to the US after three months. The Chinese fighter pilot was never found.
It can all happen again anytime. A speedy diplomatic solution to such incidents should be readied with the superpowers’ foreign policies. For now, China may be speaking softly while carrying a big stick. With terrorism becoming an almost everyday occurrence in some parts of the world, let us hope that the giant that is China does serve as an imposing guardian of the region, rather than the eventual neighborhood mafia boss who imposes cooperation to itself, security for itself and peace by its own terms.