Is Bush Tomfoolery About To Trigger War With China Anyway?

By James Donahue

While political leaders around the world have been preoccupied with cooling the Bush-Cheney threats of attacking Iran over trumped-up allegations of fighting terrorism and nuclear weapon development, something troublesome has been going on in the Far East. And America's bourgeois media is ignoring all of the signs.

It is almost as if Mr. Bush, an Armageddonist Christian who appears to be taking it upon himself to start the great war. Fundamental believers say such a war is sure to spark a return of Jesus so we suspect Mr. Bush is going by way of the back door to trigger a conflict with China. Is he doing this because his bluff has been called on the Iranian issues? He knows Americans, Congress and European leaders will not buy a second invasion that lacks merit.

Because we are caught up in the pre-Christmas/Santa Claus propaganda campaign to sell, sell, sell for holiday gift-giving, there has been a growing tension between China and U.S. toy wholesalers over defective and dangerous products now being manufactured in Chinese shops. Few toys are made in the U.S. anymore. But is that enough of an issue to trigger a war?

The problem goes much deeper.

It seems the U.S. Aircraft Carrier Kitty Hawk was denied a port-of-call stop in Hong Kong during the Thankgiving holidays. This was a big disappointment to the wives and families of many of the sailors aboard ship who traveled halfway around the world to join them for the holiday. The visit was pre-arranged and the Kitty Hawk was already at sea, on its way to Hong Kong, when the Chinese government notified Washington that the ship would not be allowed to dock there.

The last-minute decision by the Chinese leadership had a severe impact on the local economy as well. It was estimated that hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue were lost because of unkept hotel reservations and tons of additional food that had been stocked up for the occasion.

Washington has demanded an explanation.

One report says Beijing barred the ship's entry as a form of protest against recent US arms sales to Taiwan and Bush's recent public show of support for the Dalai Lama at the capital which "disturbed and harmed" Sino-US relations. Those relations have also been strained by poisoned toys and food products shipped from China to the US, and over the Iranian nuclear issue. China, which borders Iran on the east, has drawn a pact with Iran to buy volumes of Iranian crude oil and has agreed to defend Iran in the event of a US attack.

A foreign ministry spokesman for China, however, said the Kitty Hawk was kept out of Hong Kong because of a "misunderstanding."

We believe it is more than a mere misunderstanding. Several days before the aircraft carrier and its strike group were turned away from Hong Kong, Beijing refused to allow two US Navy minesweepers, the Patriot and Guardian, to enter Hong Kong harbor to refuel and duck an approaching storm. The same day the Kitty Hawk was turned away, the Chinese also refused entry for the USS Reuben James, a Navy frigate.

The Kitty Hawk steamed on to Japan where she moored at Yokosuka, in the same vicinity with a Chinese destroyer that was making the Chinese military's first visit to Japan since World War II. The arrival of the Chinese ship sparked a flurry of welcoming ceremonies, honor bands and a red-carpet treatment.

Washington has expressed deep concerns about China's double-digit growth in yearly military spending, Beijing's reluctance to reveal military-related information, its rapid improvements in missile technology, the modernization of its massive standing army and the expanding reach of its navy.

That the US has a fleet of warships patrolling the Pacific coast of China, and especially in the straits between the disputed island republic of Taiwan and mainland China, is a significant catalyst behind the tension. The Chinese Navy also is patrolling the same waters, and the political tension between Taiwan and China has been a bone of growing contention for years.

The Prophet Aaron C. Donahue has been warning for years of a danger in a potential attack of Taiwan by China and a decision by the United States to attempt to defend Taiwan. Donahue has recently warned of a growing threat of global conflict between the US and China, and that it could be sparked by what he called "an incident at sea."

Was the decision by Beijing to deny the USS Kitty Hawk a berth at Hong Kong the incident that Donahue warned about?

The Taiwan government, under the leadership of fundamental Christian follower Chen Shui-bian, has promoted the separation of the island republic from China, which has stirred the ire of Beijing. The tensions have been running high over this issue, as the Chinese military has positioned missiles along its coast, aimed at Taipei and other key Taiwan places. In response, the Bush Administration has sold defense military weaponry, including missiles, to Taiwan, and at one point Mr. Bush promised the US would defend Taiwan from a Chinese attack. The US recently upgraded the Taiwan weaponry, which may also have triggered the new tensions with Beijing.

There were capitalistic reasons behind such a promise in past years. Taiwan, which developed industrially and technically ahead of mainland China, became a primary producer of electronic and other technologies linked to American industrial production. But under more recent free trade agreements, mainland China has been catching up and now may be an even more important link to the US economy.

The former mayor of Taipei, Ma Ying-jeou of the Nationalist Party, is considered by some to be a shoo-in for the presidential office when Taiwan holds elections in March. Ma, a Harvard-educated man, is calling for closer ties with mainland China. He proposes ending a long-standing ban on direct air and shipping links with China and removing restrictions in investment in China.

Surely the election of Ma to the Taiwan presidency will ease tensions in that part of the world. But he faces stiff competition by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's Frank Hsieh, however. Thus, as it is in the United States next year, crucial elections that may decide the fate of the world are in the offing. The voters in both places may be choosing whether China and the United States virtually destroy each other in an ugly war..

Donahue says such a war would last for many years, with troops fighting on both American and Chinese lands, and conclude with a nuclear exchange that will leave both nations extensively destroyed. But in the end, he said, China may emerge the technical winner, if paying such a terrible price could be construed as a victory.

And, no, Jesus will not be coming down out of the clouds to save the day.