China and France to conduct joint naval drills

[rodbarnett]

The navies of China and France begin joint naval exercises on Tuesday off the northern Chinese coast in what Beijing says will be the "most comprehensive" military drills with a foreign power by a fleet under the command of the People's Liberation Army.

Although they are being conducted some distance from Taiwan, the exercises will take place just days before sensitive presidential elections on the island, over which China claims sovereignty.

France angered Taiwan recently by strongly condemning President Chen Shui-bian's plan to hold a referendum on missile defence alongside Saturday's election, prompting Taipei to suspend top-level ties with Paris.

France is also lobbying EU countries to drop the 15-year-old embargo on arms sales to China, imposed after the brutal 1989 suppression of pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing and other mainland cities.

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1078381774883

[Joanne98]

1. France works overtime

in thinking up new ways to piss Bush off. I think they enjoy it.

[DS1]

2. They like to piss everyone off

just like us.

[JohnLocke]

3. This is billcrap.

Why in hell is France supporting the sale of arms to China? :wtf:

[Bandit]

6. Why would you consider China a threat?

China built their wall to keep foreigners out. They are not marauders like most Western countries. They keep to themselves so we hate them for it. I think if more people sided with China and admonished them for their human rights abuses the world would be a better place. It is getting extremely hard to consider America to be a better place.

[Moderator]

4. kick

..

[w4rma]

5. WTF! (n/t)

[yltlatl]

7. China is no pussy cat...

I don't think that there's any particular reason to put faith in China's good intentions. For one thing, you're forgetting the Korean War. For another, China definitely has significant strategic interests in its region and in the world, including Taiwan and the rapidly dwindling supply of cheap oil. Their red hot economy not only increases their reliance on the latter, but is most likely fueling their military machine in anticipation of coming conflicts. I would also argue that their stated Moon base ambitions were at least a factor, if not a deciding factor, in the Bush Mars announcement (check out some of the stuff Rummy and PNAC have to say about the militarization of space).

I don't think the Bushies quite realized what they were getting into when they established their preemptive war doctrine. The axes of world power are really shifting in response to the aggressive new American attitude, and I think this cooperation between France and China is a sign of it. It's not hard for anyone on the world stage to see that once the US gets itself into a few more fruitless guerilla conflicts around the world, it will quickly begin to bleed itself dry--militarily, economically, and politically. Hell, if they're half as smart as Zbigniew Brzezinski thinks he is, they'll lure the US into some messy little wars. Then WHAM! it will be time for a new super-power--maybe China?

[struggle4progress]

8. Alignment changes triggered by Bush ...

will affect international relations for the rest of our lives.

[Junkdrawer]

9. Why do I think that the world will not stand idly by while the US tries...

to gain hegemony over the world's remaining oil supplies?

[struggle4progress]

10. Plus ...

the attack on a generation of nuclear control efforts ...
the insistence on American "exceptionalism" in treaties ...
the conspicuous failure to use US power to broker peace in ME ...
the consistently anti-environmental stance ...

I'd guess "old Europe" may be rethinking the Atlantic alliance