The hypocrisy of our Foreign Policy (2)

In the last six months, we have enumerated a series of alarming faux pas in our Foreign Policy, and encouraged Bush-Cheney-Rice-Negroponte to stay home, and be silent. We have already insulted enough countries, created enough enemies, and lost too many friends.

See our previous article for comments about Middle-East, Moral Obligation, Latin America, and Russia.
China: Last week, Marine General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been talking about a program of officer exchanges and other confidence-building measures with China Army, with a possible “hotline” for emergency communication between Beijing and Washington.However, he said he continued to press China's generals for more transparency about the aims of their military buildup.
Gen. Pace said he immediately agreed to study the proposals put forward by Gen. Liang Guanglie, chief of the PLA's General Staff Department.Gen. Liang's proposals include sending Chinese cadets to the Army academy at West Point as well as participating in joint exercises and humanitarian and relief-at-sea operations “that might be able to build trust and confidence amongst our forces.”
Our military ties with Japan and commitment to protect Taiwan remain a major hurdle for an eventual "hot line".
Recently, Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State Rice, both with arrogance and ignorance, have warned China against building a too strong defense, following an 18% increase in Chinese military budget, heightened the sense of unease in Washington over China's 2.3 million-member armed forces.
According to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the relative military expenditures (as percentage of GDP) of some major countries are:
Russia 4.3%
United States 3.9%
United Kingdom 2.2%
China (PRC) 1.8%
The military budget of China is increasing with two digits, but the economy is also increasing with two digits.
Total military expenditure:
USA: $518,100,000,000. (not including real costs for Iraq and Afghanistan)
China: $81,480,000,000.
Expenditures per citizen:
USA: $1,727. per citizen (300 million people)
China: $63. per citizen (1.3 billion people)
China is getting richer, and more powerful with interests in an increasing number of countries. Chinese Authorities want to protect their alliances, partners and interests, anywhere in Asia, Europe, Latin American, and soon, anywhere on the planet. We also have a huge military, with bases, all over the world, exactly for the same reasons.
The difference: China is getting richer, stronger and more powerful. We are getting poorer, weaker, with less allies.
By invading Iraq, we have convinced several countries, especially Iran, about the needs in building their own protection. We have also proven to the rest of the world that they can not trust us anymore.
For generations, a great majority of countries have been looking at us as a needed superpower. Now, because of our own ignominy, an increasing number of nations believe that domination of the world by one power is not a good idea. It is in the human nature that other forces rise up to counter-balance that. The power being challenged is as much a threat to others, than the power doing the challenging.In the last century, China has been losing a few wars**, but has been learning the Chinese way: patience and strategy. US provocations, insults, ultimatums, will not deter them. Au contraire.
** Wars of Opium : 1839-1842 and 1856-1860
Sino-Japanese wars : 1894-1895 and 1937-1945:

Respect must be Earned: a few excerpts from our article of September 22.
- we can not develop an "efficient foreign policy" if we do not inspire "trust and credibility"
- as Edward Gibbon pointed out in his "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", the Roman Empire began to crumble when its leaders forfeited the esteem of the citizenry.
- without honour, we have no value.
Again, we are asking our Congress: who is working in our Foreign Policy? Are they qualified for that job? Urgent matter. We require binding answers.
The Facilitator