From Manila to Washington, experts are trying to answer what Rory Medcalf, an Asia security expert at the Lowy Institute, describes as the “billion dollar question”: why is China taking a more assertive stance over territorial claims in the South China Sea that have, in most cases, existed for decades?Where some see an emerging power flexing its new naval muscles, others view a bolder ambition to push the US navy out of the western Pacific where it has been dominant since the second world war. The tensions are mounting at a pace that worries everyone from military planners in the Asia-Pacific region to multinational retailers and global energy companies.…“It is naive to believe that a strong China will accept the conventional definition of what parts of the sea around it are under its jurisdiction,” Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding father, said in March.
“why is China taking a more assertive stance over territorial claims in the South China Sea that have, in most cases, existed for decades?”
Ah, because something has changed. China is a different country. It is a strong, rising power. It is time to correct past injustices inflicted upon China by its neighbors and the West. The past drives China forward with no end in sight.
“The tensions are mounting at a pace that worries everyone from military planners in the Asia-Pacific region to multinational retailers and global energy companies.”
First there was a military build up. Then the tension slowly started rising. Now the tension has started accelerating in the last couple of years. It appears that what is happening today has been part of a plan hatched 30 years ago by Deng Xiaoping.
Less biding and hiding | The Economist [Dec. 2010]
… Under Mao, China had often bullied its neighbours, but had now subordinated this part of its foreign policy because co-operation with America was more important. Under Deng Xiaoping, Mao’s eventual successor, China even reluctantly accepted America’s continuing arms sales to Taiwan.When the Soviet threat evaporated, China continued to put foreign policy second—this time for the sake of economic development. Again, that required co-operation with America, the best source of demand, technology and investment.Deng summed up the policy in a famous slogan: “Coolly observe, calmly deal with things, hold your position, hide your capacities, bide your time, accomplish things where possible.” When the world began to worry about China’s surging power, a senior official tried to calm fears, pledging a heping jueqi (peaceful rise). Even that had to be watered down, as the jue in “rise” suggests “towering as a peak”. These days Hu Jintao, China’s leader, prefers the deliberately bland “harmonious world”.
In the early 1990s Deng Xiaoping introduced the 24 Characters strategy: keep cool-headed to observe, be composed to make reactions, stand firmly, hide our capabilities and bide our time, never try to take the lead, and be able to accomplish something. What does “hide our capabilities” and “bide our time” mean? Just like the word “jihad”, there are different interpretations. The story below provides one chilling possibility. It suggests that America is in trouble.
The Parable of Goujian
The story of the king [Goujian] who slept on sticks and tasted gall is as known to the Chinese as George Washington and the cherry tree are to Americans. He has become a symbol of resistance against the treaty ports, foreign concessions and the years of colonial humiliation.
King Goujian (Yue) was defeated by King Fuchai (Wu) and taken prisoner. He worked in the royal stables and gradually won the respect of Fuchai. Later he was allowed to govern his old kingdom under Fuchai. Goujian quietly bided his time and hid his capabilities over eight years until he was strong enough to finally attack and defeat Fuchai. During the eight years he quietly undermined Fuchai and facilitated Fuchai’s growth of debt.
Taken like that, the parable of Goujian sums up what some people find alarming about China’s rise as a superpower today. Ever since Deng Xiaoping set about reforming the economy in 1978, China has talked peace. Still militarily and economically too weak to challenge America, it has concentrated on getting richer. Even as China has grown in power and rebuilt its armed forces, the West and Japan have run up debts and sold it their technology. China has been patient, but the day when it can once again start to impose its will is drawing near.
War Between Wu and Yue
The war between Wu and Yue comprised several separate phases. It was started when a Yue princess, who was married to one of the princes of the neighbouring State of Wu, left her husband and fled back to the country of Yue. This became the spark for the war to come.Upon the death of Yunchang and the accession of Goujian, King Helü of Wu seized the opportunity and launched an attack on Yue. At the Battle of Zuì L? (????), however, Yue defeated Wu, and King Helü was mortally wounded; before his death he instructed his son, King Fuchai of Wu, “Never forget Yue!” Yue would be defeated three years later by a resurgent Wu, and Goujian captured, to serve as Fuchai’s servant for three years until he was eventually allowed to return to his native state.Upon resuming his rule King Goujian quickly appointed skilled politicians as advisors, such as Wen Zhong and Fan Li, to help build up the kingdom. During this time, his ministers also worked to weaken the State of Wu internally through bribes and diplomatic intrigue.
You see the answer is simple. Chinese leaders are liars. While they have been talking peace for 30 years, they have been plotting war. To be more precise, they have been plotting their comeback. Anyone, and I mean anyone, who stands in their way will be destroyed. And that includes Japan, and that includes America.
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