War with… China?

“I am convinced that if it had not been for 9/11, we would be in a military showdown with China today.”

Wow, um, WHAT??

That’s a quote from Gary Hart, in reference to a discussion raised by Lynne Cheney, wife of current Vice President Dick Cheney. At least, according to James Fallows’ blog (I feel like I’m playing a game of Telephone here).

Fallows writes that during sessions of the U.S. Commission on National Security in the 21st Century (held in early 2001, before 9/11), seven Republicans and seven Democrats would discuss and debate various issues of national security.

At the first meeting, one Republican woman on the commission said that the overwhelming threat was from China. Sooner or later the U.S. would end up in a military showdown with the Chinese Communists. There was no avoiding it, and we would only make ourselves weaker by waiting. No one else spoke up in support.

The same thing happened at the second meeting — discussion from other commissioners about terrorism, nuclear proliferation, anarchy of failed states, etc, and then this one woman warning about the looming Chinese menace. And the third meeting too. Perhaps more.

Finally, in frustration, this woman left the commission.

“Her name was Lynne Cheney,” Hart said. “I am convinced that if it had not been for 9/11, we would be in a military showdown with China today.”

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not discounting any possible military threat from China—I don’t know enough about the issue, though I know that Dick Cheney has watched & criticized China’s military build-up before.

But as a Chinese American, that shit scares me. What would I do if the country of my birthplace went to war with the country of my family? Would there be a backlash against people of Chinese descent in the US? What would happen to the rest of the world if two such large countries went to war?

I know it doesn’t make for much of a juicy blog post, but I can’t think of any good answers to those questions. Plus, I’m still a bit groggy after all that beer from a 4th of July BBQ celebrating the US’s independence.

The Peking Duck picked up this story too, and already a plethora of comments have been made, pro and con this issue. There are lots of conspiracy theories too. While I don’t agree with all of them, reading the varying viewpoints cleared up some of my ignorance on this subject. If you know more, please share; I’d love to hear it.

Let me close with my favorite comment on The Peking Duck, from RuoPan: “And I thought ‘the yellow peril’ was passé.” Hehehe. My beer-infested groggy mind likes funny comment after scary serious topic.

(Flickr photo credit: lobsterstew)