World of Warcraft: USA vs. China

UPDATE (7/13/11): It has become a ritual in Washington to "restart" military exchanges with China. Regular contact has been suspended a number of times over the past two decades and each new cancellation sparks a round of worrying over the causes of the rift, writes Michael Auslin in an excellent WSJ OpEd.

The roster of incidents that have caused cancellations reads like a list of persistent diplomatic sore spots: the Tiananmen massacre, Chinese harassment of U.S. reconnaissance planes, and the accidental 1999 U.S. bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, says Auslin. The main irritant, however, is Taiwan.

UPDATE: Mullen reminds China that the United States has a crucial stake and key allies in the Asia-Pacific and it isn't walking away. Chen says China too has its interests and there are lines that can't be crossed. CNN serves up rare glimpse of China's military HQ.

When the top commanders of the world's two largest standing armies get together, you'd expect their tete-a-tete to show some results.

But so far, we're not getting much more than schoolyard nitter-natter.

China's top general on Monday publicly admonished the United States for a wide array of issues ranging from spending too much on its military during an economic downturn to the timing of joint exercises with other nations in the South China Sea, writes Tom Lasseter from McClatchy Newspapers.

CNN reports that one day after the top American military officer declared that China "has arrived as a world power," his Chinese counterpart played down the capabilities of the 3 million strong People's Liberation Army while criticizing the role of U.S. armed forces in the Asia Pacific region.

Calling $700 billion a year in U.S. defense spending six times the Chinese budget, Gen. Chen Bingde, the PLA's chief of the General Staff, brushed aside notions that China would challenge America's military supremacy by building its own aircraft carriers while developing carrier-killing missiles.

"We are still 20, 30 years behind the United States, no matter how much we have developed," he said at a joint press briefing with Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Chen was blunt in expressing China's view on the United States conducting two military exercises in the Asia Pacific region—with the Philippines and Vietnam, respectively—amid rising tensions over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

"We think the timing of those joint exercises is inappropriate," he said.

Mullen, in China for a rare four-day visit to promote military-to-military ties, pointed out to his host that such war games were long planned and small in scale.

"It's not that difficult to change the schedule," Chen responded.

Chen apparently even keeps the welfare of American taxpayers in mind.

"I know the U.S. is still recovering from the financial crisis," Chen pondered aloud at the joint press briefing. "But it's still spending so much money on its military—isn't that placing too much pressure on the taxpayers?"

"If the U.S. could reduce its military spending a little, and spend more on improving the livelihood of the American people and doing more good things for the world—wouldn't that be a better scenario?"

Sheesh. I hope the closed-door sessions between Mullen and Chen are doing better.

"U.S. military ties with China are absolutely vital,” Mullen told Bloomberg at the start of a visit that will conclude on July 13. “I can’t think of any place where there is more to be done and more to be gained than between the U.S. and China."

Among the concerns of the U.S. is China's growing military buildup which includes a budding aircraft carrier program, the J-15 maritime strike fighter, the J-20 stealth bomber and pesky things like anti-ship and anti-satellite cruise and ballistic missiles. While none of the armaments are considered by analysts to be a "great leap forward," they nonetheless are threats to American military assets and could undermine stability in the region.

Then there's the issue of China's assertiveness in the South China Sea and East China Sea. Longstanding territorial disputes notwithstanding, China, once a low-profile titan, is now flexing its muscles and some say playing the regional bully part nearly to the point of actual confrontation. The top military commanders of China’s East Asian neighbors do not have it easy. (It's my understanding that stress at work can lead to heart disease, diabetes, comfort eating and even diarrhea.)

For example, should relations between Beijing and Hanoi deteriorate over the sovereignty of the resource-rich Paracel archipelago and the Spratly islands, the U.S. would inevitably (and somewhat ironically) become involved. Already, U.S. Senator John McCain has called on the U.S. military to boost its forces in the South China Sea to counter what he described as China's “undisputed” claims.

There's also the problem of cyberattacks emanating from within China's borders. While there is no conclusive evidence that these attacks are under the purview of either the military or government, suspicions remain. Recent attack targets traced to Chinese IP addresses include spear-phishing campaigns on officials from the U.S., the G-20 and the International Monetary Fund. Beijing has denied any state involvement, despite admitting the existence of an elite cyber wing of the People's Liberation Army, reported Al Jazeera’s Melissa Chan.

On the flipside, China still has a problem with a US$6.4 billion U.S. arms sale to Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province. As I recall, all Taiwan ordered was a couple of mine-hunting ships, a few dozen Black Hawk helicopters, a number of missiles, a bunch of machine guns and ammo, along with some night vision gear and radar equipment thrown in. Still, China suspended its military links with the U.S. in January last year after the sale was announced.

Military ties between the two countries resumed in late 2010 and have picked up pace since President Hu Jintao visited President Barack Obama in January, according to Reuters.

China also has issues with close-in reconnaissance activities along Chinese coasts by U.S. military aircraft and vessels, said Amy Chang, a research fellow for military and national security affairs from the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC). Chen has been quoted as saying that reconnaissance activities by the U.S. military are "a deterrent" to improved bilateral military relations.

China regards the entire South China Sea and island groups within it as its own and interprets international law as giving it the right to police foreign naval activity there, reports the Associated Press. The U.S. insists that its Navy has a right to transit the area and collect surveillance data and has supported multilateral negotiations to resolve the differences.

In May, a Chinese delegation led by Chen came to Washington for meetings, then visited a number of military facilities, including Navy and Air Force bases. During that visit—the first of its kind in seven years—Chen invited Mullen for a similar tour through China.

While May's meetings didn't net out with any earth-shattering agreements, the three positive points of consensus were a good start nevertheless. USCC's Chang summarized:

1. The two sides reached a consensus to promote the new development of military ties and engage in mutually beneficial efforts;
2. The two sides conducted in-depth exchanges of views on international and regional issues, including the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, piracy, terrorism, humanitarian assistance, and disaster alleviation;
3. The two sides specified projects for the next step in pragmatic bilateral cooperation, including direct defense ministry telephone lines, cooperating on maritime security, and executing joint humanitarian assistance drills.

Guan Youfei, deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Ministry of National Defense, also noted that among the Chinese delegation's achievements on the trip were mutual agreement to conduct exchanges on military medicine and sports and recreation between the two countries’ armed forces to "help enhance mutual understanding and trust."

I'm hoping Mullen's trip will net out with a little more. The trip to China is the first by a U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs since 2007, Pentagon officials said. Mullen's last trip to China was also in 2007 when he was U.S. Chief of Naval Operations.