By A. Greer Meisels & Lt. Gen. Wallace “Chip” Gregson, Jr.
We appreciate “Admit it, China is a Competitor,” by Rep. J Randy Forbes, and particularly enjoyed the title of the piece. Discussing China in anything less than a flattering light has become taboo. As two professors from the U.S. Naval War College so amusingly pointed out, China has become a Voldemort-like figure in many people’s minds. We also concur with his point that the 2012 China Military Power Report seems restrained. Others, such as Gabe Collins, in “12 Things Missing from China Report”, have pointed out several interesting omissions.
However, we are still a bit unclear as to what Rep. Forbes wants instead. He states, “Writing about the need to speak more frankly about the nature of the competition will be deemed by some as unnecessarily provocative.” In our opinion, this isn’t what is unnecessarily provocative. What could be construed as provocative is raising this issue without also elaborating on: 1) What specifically we are competing for; and 2) If/how this rhetorical shift might influence actual U.S. government actions?
Read the full story at The Diplomat