Published: February 26, 2009 01:39 pm      

Is America becoming a Chinese puppet state?

The dictionary defines “puppet state” as “a government appointed by and whose affairs are directed by an outside authority that may impose hardships on those governed.”

Is the United States slowly becoming a puppet state of China?

I fear the answer might be yes.

Two aspects of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent China junket were disturbing.

First, MSNBC reported that during an interview in China, Clinton said, “In order to boost the (American) economy it was necessary that the U.S. incur more debt (with China).”

Second, London’s Daily Telegraph reported the Chinese were “delighted” that during her visit Clinton had not raised the topic of China’s human rights violations.

She also avoided the topic of China manipulating its currency value, which some analysts say contributes to America’s huge trade imbalance with China.

During the same trip to Asia, Clinton’s overtones to North Korea were anything but conciliatory. She said the United States and its allies are preparing for the possibility of a North Korean regime change.

She also cautioned North Korea against conducting another provocative ballistic missile test launch.

So why does America kowtow to China while simultaneously rattling a saber at North Korea?

It’s simple: Unlike China, North Korea does not own massive quantities of U.S. national debt instruments. With a dismal economy today and a new “economic stimulus” bill requiring more U.S. debt to be sold to China, the Obama administration can’t risk angering China’s leaders for fear of economic retaliation.

What if they won’t fund more American debt?

As America grows weaker, China gets stronger. Even during this global economic downturn, China’s economy continues to grow, as does its need for natural resources, especially oil.

The Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, a Washington, D.C., think tank, says, “China’s expectation of growing future dependence on oil imports has brought it to acquire interests in exploration and production in places like Kazakhstan, Russia, Venezuela, Sudan, West Africa, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Canada. But despite its efforts to diversify its sources, China has become increasingly dependent on Middle East oil.”

During the coming decade, tensions over Middle East oil will rise, as the United States, Western Europe, Southeast Asia and China compete for this vital resource. China, the second-largest foreign holder of U.S. national debt instruments (only Japan owns more), will have a distinct advantage over the United States in this competition, as it will be able to “call in” U.S. debt, enabling the Chinese to outbid us for oil and other resources.

Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui, two colonels in China’s People’s Liberation Army, published a treatise in 1999 titled “Unrestricted Warfare.” The treatise contains instructions on how to defeat a militarily superior enemy using unconventional means. One of the means discussed is economic war.

The authors note that “a defeat on the economic front precipitates a near collapse of the social and political order. The casualties resulting from the constant chaos are no less than those resulting from a regional war and the injury done to the living social organism even exceeds the injury inflicted by a regional war.”

Constant chaos is certainly an apt description of America’s economy today.

China is in a superb position to wage economic warfare against the United States. Clinton’s conciliatory behavior toward China is a clear indicator that the Obama administration fears Beijing.

“Unrestricted Warfare” describes a method called “economic aid warfare,” which is used for “bestowing favor in the open and contriving to control matters in secret.”

Is this occurring now between the United States and China? Are China’s leaders already trying to manipulate some of the strings controlling America?

Just follow the Chinese cash contributions to campaigns during U.S. national elections and you’ll find out. Reuters reported in 2001 that a U.S. government investigation determined China had covert plans to influence U.S. elections.

This past year, the Department of Defense published “Joint Operating Environment 2008,” a study describing possible global developments over the next 25 years that have the potential to threaten U.S. national security. It states: “As more young enter the work force, the developing world will need to increase employment by nearly 50 million jobs per year. China and India alone need to create 8 to 10 million jobs annually to keep pace with the numbers entering the work force every year.”

The passage concludes: “The results of a dramatic slowdown in China’s growth, for example, are unpredictable and could easily lead to internal difficulties or aggressive behavior externally. That is precisely what happened in Japan in the early 1930s with the onset of the Great Depression.”

As China’s economy grows, so do the expectations of Chinese citizens. Their aggressive drive to obtain an improved standard of living and natural resources, especially oil, will contribute to future global instability.

Could China’s failure to grow be even more dangerous?

Can America compete with China in the future, or will China compel us to bow like so many previous Chinese vassals?

Could China end up virtually rationing America’s oil and manufactured goods one day?

Only time will tell.

Unfortunately, the U.S. national debt is a trump card China can play each time the stakes grow high.



Zachary Hubbard is a retired Army officer residing in Upper Yoder Township. He is a member of The Tribune-Democrat Readership Advisory Committee.