Top 10 reasons to be concerned about China

Top 10 reasons to be concerned about China
By:Human Events
6/16/2012 07:47 AM

With the nation stuck in the Obama era, where economic sluggishness is the norm and a sharp military drawdown is in the works, America’s time as the world’s sole superpower could be running out. And who will join the United States as a global power? None other than China, of course. And here are reasons to be concerned, very concerned:

1. Economy

While the United States’ economy has been sluggish at best, the Chinese economy has grown seven times faster than America’s over the past decade. For the first time since World War II, the United States is poised to lose its status as the world’s economic engine. China is now projected to overtake the United States as the world’s largest economy by 2016.

2. Debt

China now holds some $1.17 trillion of U.S. government securities, and with the United States running annual trillion dollar budget shortfalls, the need for Chinese capital only increases. So dependent are we on the Chinese to continue to finance America’s debt, the Obama administration is now allowing China for the first time to directly buy U.S. notes from the Treasury Department, bypassing Wall Street.

3. Military

China continues to build up its military—modernizing its nuclear missile capabilities, building a large submarine fleet, and making advances in anti-satellite and cyber war capabilities. Meanwhile, the U.S. defense budget is facing severe automatic cuts at the end of the year that will severely curtail America’s military power. To add insult to injury, China has flooded the Department of Defense’s supply chain with millions of counterfeit parts.

4. Trade deficit

The United States ran a $295.5 billion trade deficit in China in 2011—the largest ever between two nations—as the devalued yuan and unfair trade practices helped enlarge the massive gap. With their mountain of dollars, the Chinese have within their means the power to wreak havoc on the U.S. financial system.

5. Foreign policy

China remains bellicose in its dealings on the world stage, giving support to dangerous rogue nations like North Korea and Iran. China has been the key obstacle to the international community from addressing the Syrian conflict, while manufacturing a regional crisis with the Philippines over fishing rights.

6. Manufacturing

America has been bleeding manufacturing jobs, losing a third of such jobs in the past decade, with China being the main beneficiary. Now China is producing twice as many cars as the U.S. and nearly eight times the amount of steel. Even the new statue of Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington D.C. was made in China.

7. Buying American

One thing that China uses all of those dollars for is to buy up parts of America. In the last decade, Chinese companies spent over $16.2 billion for 309 different acquisitions and that was before Dalian Wanda Group recently bought AMC Entertainment and its 346 movie theaters for $2.6 billion. Oh, and the Federal Reserve recently gave approval for Chinese banks to buy stock in U.S. banks.

8. Critical metals

China has a virtual monopoly on the production of critical metals used in the manufacturing of computers and military equipment , proving essential for America’s national security. Not that the United States doesn’t have some of the same metals within its borders, but as we have pointed out, environmental regulations have put roadblocks up to mining the metals.

9. Technology

When China isn’t stealing U.S. technology, it is out producing America in its application. China has the world’s fastest trains and most advanced supercomputers. It is the world leader in the production of solar panels and wind turbines. Even the U.S. is investing in Chinese technology, as federal stimulus dollars created green energy jobs in China.

10. Human rights

Despite China’s move towards free-market capitalism, the tragedy of communism lives on in the country’s woeful human rights record. From forced abortions and Internet restrictions to crackdowns on the Falun Gong and Tibetan monks, the Chinese continue to engage in repressive practices that would make Mao proud.
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To read another article about China, click here.