Biden Says Don’t Worry About China; He’s Wrong

Former Vice President of the United States Joe Biden speaking with supporters at a community event in Marshalltown, Iowa. (CC BY-SA 2.0)
A number of leading political figures have consistently downplayed both the economic and military threat from China. Democrat presidential front-runner Joe Biden stated earlier this year, referring to China, “What are we worried about?” It was a follow-up to a comment he made in 2018, when he stated, “China is going to eat our lunch? Come on, man!”
The Reuters news service notes that,
“…Neither Warren, Sanders nor other candidates have made dealing with China, one of the biggest issues facing the current administration, a significant part of their platform.”
Among the mistaken reasons cited for the lack of concern over China’s military threat is the obsolete notion that Beijing’s military, while large, is not sophisticated. China’s government itself has now provided the information that refutes that error, in a white paper from its State Council Information Office entitled “China’s National Defense in the New Era.”
A review of the document by the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Anthony Codesman reveals that it,
“…Flags the fact that America and China are now competing superpowers, and that China’s growing military forces are developing to the point where they will be able to challenge the United States.”
For a number of years, China has moved vigorously to compete and lead in the most sophisticated areas of warfare, including in space. In 2017, CNN quoted General John Hyten, the head of U.S. Strategic Command:
“They’ve been building weapons, testing weapons, building weapons to operate from the earth in space, jamming weapons, laser weapons, and they have not kept it secret.”
Codesman reports that,
“Steve Lambakis, a former official at the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency, said a key PLA objective is to use space weapons to cripple operations of the Hawaii-based Indo-Pacific Command during a future conflict by attacking American satellites. These operations would likely start with disruption and destruction of [command, control, communications, and intelligence] capabilities with cyber and kinetic attacks on satellites and ground assets in support of other Chinese kinetic capabilities…”
The Free Beacon’s Bill Gertz notes that,
“Army Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, was asked during a security forum in Colorado last week if the United States is falling behind China and Russia in military space systems.
“”I can’t tell you who’s in front and who’s behind,” Ashley said of the space weapons race. […] [T]he United States appears to be lagging behind China in developing space weapons. […] By contrast, a 2018 intelligence report by the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) stated that China is among the most advanced nations in building space weapons.”
Last year, reports the South China Morning Post, the Chinese engaged in a sophisticated war training exercise. The event tested,
“Reconnaissance, electronic communication, cybersecurity, air strikes and other battle skills […] aimed at increasing ground troops’ understanding of modern warfare, and fostering new strategic ground force commanders after a sweeping PLA overhaul. More than 50 combat units involving about 2,100 officers [took] part at five training bases. They included airborne troops, special forces and electronic warfare experts from ground forces from the Eastern, Western, Northern, Southern and Central command theatres…”
The white paper deals with more than just Beijing’s boasts about its advanced weaponry. It discusses a broad range of China’s view of its role in the world, and its challenges, and reinforces its views that the regions it dominates by force or terror, such as Tibet, and those it seeks to unlawfully expand its direct control over, such as Hong Kong, are within its immediate sights. And of course, there is the ongoing issue of Taiwan.
Frank Vernuccio serves as editor-in-chief of the New York Analysis of Policy & Government
Originally published on Townhall Finance.
Frank Vernuccio serves as editor-in-chief of the New York Analysis of Policy & Government (website usagovpolicy.com). He is the co-host of the syndicated radio program, Vernuccio/Novak Report, and is also a contributor to Fox News. His columns appear in many newspapers. After graduating Hofstra Law School, he was a legislative editor for a major publishing company, then served in both Republican and Democrat Administrations. Following the 9/11 attack, he was appointed to run the hard-hit Manhattan branch of the New York State Workers Compensation Board.
Trending Now on Affluent Christian Investor
Sorry. No data so far.
The Affluent Mix
Biden Oblivious To Illegal Immigration Issues... August 2, 2021 | Frank Vernuccio

Rob Arnott On Bubbles, Inflation, And Once-In-A-Generation Investment Opportunit... August 2, 2021 | Jerry Bowyer

The Federal Reserve’s Massive Theft Of Stability... August 2, 2021 | Jim Huntzinger

What To Do About This Difficult Market? August 2, 2021 | David Bahnsen

Letter On The Politicization Of Corporations... July 26, 2021 | Jerry Bowyer

Peak Of The Fake Bull Market July 26, 2021 | Michael Pento

Woodrow Wilson’s Administrative State vs. Gold... July 26, 2021 | Jim Huntzinger

Dividends, Energy, And Crypto July 26, 2021 | David Bahnsen

Whose Side Are You On? July 26, 2021 | Frank Vernuccio

Media, Left Ignore These Dangers July 19, 2021 | Frank Vernuccio

Mark Skousen On FreedomFest And How To Measure The Whole Economy... July 19, 2021 | Jerry Bowyer

Quantifying The Quantitative, Or Making Easy The Easing... July 19, 2021 | David Bahnsen

The Gold Standard Means A Rising Standard Of Living... July 19, 2021 | Jim Huntzinger

Book Review: Brian Domitrovic Reveals The Monetary Genius Of Arthur Laffer... July 19, 2021 | John Tamny

Steve Forbes: Time To Worry About Inflation, Not Hyperinflation... July 12, 2021 | Jerry Bowyer

UFOs Rescue Biden July 12, 2021 | Frank Vernuccio

Read This Classical Economist’s 200 Year Old Warning About Paper Money... July 12, 2021 | Jim Huntzinger

How Central Banks Murdered The Markets July 12, 2021 | Michael Pento

Everything There Is To Know About The Stock Market... July 12, 2021 | David Bahnsen

AT&T CEO: We’re Ill Equipped For Politics, And We’re Spending A Lot Of ... July 6, 2021 | Jerry Bowyer

Internet Bias Distorts National Conversation... July 6, 2021 | Frank Vernuccio

The Halfway Point Of 2021 July 6, 2021 | David Bahnsen

Join the conversation!
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, vulgarity, profanity, all caps, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain a courteous and useful public environment where we can engage in reasonable discourse.