The American Spectator

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ETERNAL CHINA br> Re: George H. Wittman's Spoiling Beijing : /p>

Mr. Wittman wrote: "China is showing all the signs of a spoiled brat -- a spoiled brat with thousands of years of cultural history, a booming economy, an arsenal of nuclear-tipped missiles, and a crucial vote on the United Nations Security Council."

To Mr. Wittman's list, you can add "and a significant part of the U.S. debt." This is brought about by the fact that neither party is willing to stop spending (too many voters would be offended by being cut from the government dole) and the Republicans insist that we shouldn't have to tax ourselves to pay for what we demand. The promise to cut taxes, thereby adding to the national debt, is really a free lunch philosophy.

p>Only it's not free. We are leaving the tab to our kids and our grandkids. I doubt they will write any books about how great is our generation. br> -- Mike Roush br> North Carolina /p>

It is ironic that China views its current ascendancy as entirely China driven; it is not, of course. The huge trade gaps it runs with almost every geographic region on Earth is the result of other nations, particularly Western nations, liberal, enlightened trade policies, which are in turn based on liberal and enlightened governments. China has a lot to learn from the West, perhaps more than it will ever admit, and a long way to go.

p>We hope that its military build up is not for the purpose of some day challenging the US or invading Taiwan. But something tells me that a country that can not build a high performance military jet engine even now and must rely still on Russian technology has a big R&R problem. And while China has for the first time in its history built its own modern jet fighter that is not of Russian design, the new fighter is, however, based on an Israeli design that was basically a copy of the US F-16. Indeed, there is no need to fear China. The country's bark is far worse than its bite. br> --

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