Why Does China See U.S. Aircraft Carriers as Paper Boats Floating Out at Sea?

In China’s opinion, U.S. aircraft carriers navigating or performing military exercises in the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, the South China Sea and the East Korean Sea are just like paper boats floating around in the water!

U.S. aircraft carriers entered the Yellow Sea and retreated after their military exercises, and nothing changed. At first, some people thought that the U.S. would have limited attacks on North Korea as a means of disciplining them, but nothing happened. Some people believe that American aircraft carriers going to the Yellow Sea were meant to deter China, but China protested before and so the U.S did not dare venture over there. Allowing them to sail these waters this time is lessening the effect of South Korean and American soldiers’ strategic formations. Last time, China was active and mediated fairly. They, with a responsible attitude, maintained peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. If the U.S. wants to send their aircraft carriers into the Yellow Sea to deter China, their goal is unattainable because America has already shown their hand. On this topic, we might as well use these two situations to illustrate our point:

First, in the year 2000, when George W. Bush became president, he had a tough stance against China. After the collision above Hainan, an American intelligence airplane was forced to land. President George W. Bush appeared on TV looking vicious, and fiercely warned China to release the prisoners and aircraft within 24 hours. In the end, China paid no attention to him, and after much time they still had not released the prisoners and were preparing to disassemble this intelligence aircraft, thoroughly study it, and then dismantle it into several large pieces. Consequently, President George W. Bush did not do anything!

Secondly, in the year 2000, because Lien Chan and James Soong split the presidential votes, Chen Shuibian luckily won. American President George W. Bush allowed Chen to pass through New York and openly take a ride on a yacht. As time drew near to the 2004 presidential elections, Chen Shuibian became more and more anxious because Lien Chan and James Soong had teamed up. Thus, Chen gradually pushed for Taiwan’s independence. Then President George W. Bush, in front of Premier Wen Jiabao and on TV, publicly expressed opposition to Chen for trying to change the status quo. As a result, Chen backed off. Afterward, Chen Shuibian was reelected despite being shot at by a gunman. As 2008 drew near, Chen once again became increasingly anxious. He again pushed for Taiwan’s independence, hoping to become president of an independent Taiwan or have the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) cover up his corrupt misdeeds. In the end, Chen once again received a thrashing from President Bush (i.e.: no country allowing Chen to stop and refuel in their country) and again backed off. At that time a lot of people — actually, even today, there are many people who do not understand why President George W. Bush was that afraid of China. If America holds all the aces, then do they need to be that panicked and mercilessly eager to suppress Chen?

From these two examples we can see that from the very beginning, President George W. Bush provoked China (the Hainan Island incident), and from 2004-2008 he fully suppressed Chen Shuibian. But why was the change so drastic? It was because China had warned him: If he dis not control Chen, then China would take matters into their own hands. President George W. Bush did not have the audacity to start a war with China, and so he suppressed Chen Shuibian.

Many people hope that now America would warn China — ask China to suppress North Korea just as President George W. Bush suppressed Chen Shuibian. Honestly, China will not do that. The reason China will not suppress North Korea, to say the least, is that the Korean people — regardless of being from South or North Korea — are stubborn and do not respond to threats. Neither side believes that they are wrong; they both blame each other for provoking the situation and they both have evidence and motive! Therefore, if China were to apply pressure it could have the opposite effect. Another reason China will not suppress North Korea is because, regardless of how strong America’s military is, China is not afraid of them! Actually, the U.S. already knows this, because after strategizing, the U.S. clearly knows that if China and the U.S. go to war, then America will lose its “number one superpower” status. They will then forfeit their “number one superpower” status to whoever reaps the spoils after both sides are tired (no one should not forget this is how America came to power; they waited until the other countries wore each other out from war and then came in and took over). Furthermore, of course China does not want to start a war with the U.S., but if the U.S. imposed war on China it would result in China remaining unbeaten and America losing its Number One status!

Currently the U.S., South Korea and Japan have been holding joint military exercises. Send a second, third, fourth aircraft carrier to Asia. It’s purely for show, each taking what they need: The U.S. can strengthen the dollar and facilitate the printing of more U.S. dollar bills by creating a fear of war. They can also tighten their relationship with Japan and South Korea. Japan and South Korea can only remedy their emotional traumas. As for China, American aircraft carriers are just paper boats afloat at sea. China loves peace, hopes that East Asia can maintain peace and stability and hopes that all sides can find a solution to the problem through discussion, not through threats and intimidation. They hope that Japan and South Korea can think calmly and clearly. If impulsiveness causes the situation to become more tense or worsen, then is it truly beneficial to their countries?