Many know that Washington has been suffering from serious dysfunction, as was reflected in the latest Gallup poll in which Americans said the government was the US’ No 1 problem, but few realize that the symptoms of paranoia are worse.
On Tuesday, at the Atlantic Council, a think tank in Washington, a group of so-called experts were discussing the implication of the emerging anti-access/area-denial capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region. The views of most countries, from Singapore and Thailand to Vietnam and the Philippines, were presented. Yet not only was there no speaker from China, which was the focal point of the talk, but also none of the panelists mentioned the Chinese perspective.
Instead, the three panelists, two with a Pentagon background and the third having once worked for the Japanese embassy in Washington, described how China with its growing military power poses a threat to the US and every other country in the region. One said China could shoot down satellites, while another asserted that China could use its missiles to attack Japan. They then started to emphasize how every country in the region is scared of China and seeking help from the US.
Sitting 3 meters from the podium, I probably should have been worried about my safety in case one of the panelists ran amok and threw a chair at me. Fortunately, I don’t suffer from the same paranoia the panelists exihibited. The only thing I did was to tell them that using their logic, the US, with its advanced weaponry, could attack every country and destroy the planet 10 times, if not 100 times, over.
If the Chinese suffered from the same paranoia, the just-concluded annual session of the National People’s Congress, the top legislature, should have raised China’s military spending by 50 percent this year, instead of just 10 percent, which is less than the increase in 2014.
Even if China’s A2/AD strategy exists, it is defensive in nature, while the US Air Sea Battle, renamed this year as the Joint Concept for Access and Maneuver in the Global Commons (JAM-GC) is offensive and preemptive. However, the panel didn’t touch on this.
Hyping the “China threat” theory is nothing new in Washington, the center stage for US military complex lobbying. But it has intensified lately amid the fight between the Congress and the Barack Obama administration over the 2016 budget.
That is why the other major news in Washington this past week has been how Russian missiles pose a threat to the US after William Gortney, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), said on March 12 that Russia is continuing to work on its program to deploy “long-range conventionally armed cruise missiles” that can be launched from its bomber aircraft, submarines and warships. “Should these trends continue over time, NORAD will face increased risk in our ability to defend North America against Russian air, maritime and cruise missile threats,” he told the Congress.
Gortney’s remarks have alarmed US senators and the country, for they fear the Russian missiles “can range critical infrastructure in Alaska and in Canada that we rely on for a homeland defense mission”.
What Gortney and defense lobbyists did not say is that the US poses a far greater threat to other countries with its monstrous military spending in 2014, equaling the combined expenditures of the next top 10 military spending countries.
The US is the largest exporter of major weapons, dominating 31 percent of the global market, according to the report of Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, issued on March 16. Regardless, fear-mongering in Washington has been effective.
The Gallup poll in February showed that 34 percent Americans, the highest since 2001, believe the US spends “too little” on its military. There is thus little doubt that Washington’s severe paranoia has a clear purpose.
Chen Weihua, based in Washington, is deputy editor of China Daily USA.