A Dangerous Combination

The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said the Pentagon’s recent report to Congress on China’s growing military was “face whitening.” The report “outlined a country that is emboldened with a new-found military might and drunk with economic power,” said Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), during a speech Monday at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. “For the first time in history, Beijing believes that they can achieve military parity with the United States.” McKeon said China is sending warships into other nations’ territorial waters and intimidating “our friends.” It also is hacking into US government networks on a daily basis. Yet, the United States continues to try to maintain a friendship with the rising Asian power, while steadily shrinking its own military might. “The fact is that China keeps our admirals up at night, and for good reason,” asserted McKeon. “Any historian worth his salt knows that massive military buildups and chest-thumping speeches about national destiny [are] a dangerous combination.” (China report; caution, large-sized file.)