Gates’ Grim Expressionand America’s Worries

United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates arrived in Beijing on January 9 for a three-day visit to China. This time, China treated the meeting as a very high-profile event and gave him the best of treatment, equal to that given to former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The President of the People’s Republic of China and Chairman of the Central Military Committee Hu Jintao and the Vice President and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission Xi Jinping met separately with Gates.

America’s New York Times stated on Jan. 7 that Gates’ visit to China was similar to his visit in 2007, in that the list of issues and goals of the visit was the same. However, times have changed: In the past three years, the world political and economic situations have changed significantly. Conflicts between China and America have also increased greatly. In that case, how should one interpret the underlying motives of Gates’ visit to China?

In a press conference with the American media before he left for China, Gates stated that the U.S. needed to pay attention to China’s strengthening military forces, but there was no reason to view China as an enemy. Some experts believe that America is still pursuing a policy of hedging its bets. That is, America is simultaneously increasing contact with China and checking the growth of China’s power.

China believes that, in the past year, America has increased the pace and the pertinence of its “Return to Asia” strategy. It is the main reason why the diplomatic situation between the two countries has become grim. According to America, Chinese foreign policy is becoming more tough and self-confident. America believes if this posture is not checked, then it will severely affect the stability and security of bilateral and international relations.

America thinks that military hegemony is the main pillar to world hegemony. Military strength is becoming a more and more important part of hegemonic strength. One could say that America’s last and most important weapon for protecting its hegemony is to not let anyone have a stronger military and not let anyone challenge its status as the strongest military in the world.

However, on Jan. 6, just before Gates visited China, the New York Times published an article entitled “China’s Push to Modernize Military is Bearing Fruit.” In response to widespread rumors about China’s fifth generation jet fighter, the J-20, the report states that the rumors were not accidentally leaked but instead were an example of the leaders of the Chinese army showing their muscle to Mr. Gates.

On Jan. 8, the Shaanxi Television News leaked that China’s space plane had already conducted its first test flight. China’s trans-atmospheric vehicle is very similar to America’s X-37B military space plane. Both planes have the same overall shape and use ceramic thermal protection materials to protect the tip. The main difference is that the body of China’s space plane is not as thick and it cannot carry as heavy a load as the X-37B.

On the morning of Jan. 12, Robert Gates visited the Second Artillery Corps. Gen. Jing Zhiyuan, commander of the Second Artillery Corps, met with Gates. After the meeting, Gates visited the Great Wall, which marked his last stop of a four- day visit in China

However, the observant reporters following Gates noticed that, while visiting the Great Wall, Gates did not smile once, and he seemed to have a lot on his mind. His expression was extremely stiff and serious.

This reminds us of October 2005, when former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld visited the Second Artillery Corps. Like Gates, he had the same worries, and said some incomprehensible things.

According to a report by Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Oct. 20, 2005, when Rumsfeld gave a speech at the Academy of Military Science in Beijing, he remarked that the reach of China’s nuclear weapons stretched all the way across the Pacific Ocean.

On the last day of Rumsfeld’s visit to China, he said the following words: “China … is expanding its missile forces and enabling those forces to reach many areas of the world, well beyond the Pacific region. Those advances in China’s strategic strike capacity raise questions, particularly when there’s an imperfect understanding of such developments on the part of others.”

Rumsfeld said it was up to the leaders of China to decide whether they would make their national defense plans public; however, one cannot misunderstand the fact he said afterward: “Greater clarity would certainly generate more certainty in the region.”

Note: Forcing America to start a military arms race would certainly spoil its plans to recover its economy and perhaps cause the economy to collapse. Maybe this is a good option.