Kanwa special report ( Digest )
Military Scholars' Look at China's Relationships with the Neighboring Countries

KWIC news September 23: In the form of "monographic study", a reference literature recently published by the group of Chinese military scholars completely evaluates China's strategic relationships with Japan, Taiwan, the United States, and Russia.

According to this "monograhic study", the Taiwanese authorities have not shown any flexibility in their attitude toward the issue of unification. There may be different reasons. However, one of the most explanatory reasons is the increase in Taiwan's capability of military confrontation.

The "monographic study" points out that great importance should be attached to solving the difficulties in the current military struggle and the future warfare and that the capabilities of both "the in-depth attack" and the joined operations of the ground force, navy, and air force require to be improved as soon as possible. The "monographic study" also calls for a careful study of the feasibility of blocking the Taiwan Strait and launching a campaign to land the troops on the island. All efforts should be concentrated on the solution to the most touchy problems that now exist, with a focus on the issues of Taiwan, the Nansha Islands, and the Angler's Island.

In view of the offensive Japanese foreign policy that appears aggressive in the United Nations and the favorable turn that the China-US relationship has taken, the young and vigorous generation of the Chinese military officials and diplomats have taken a critical attitude toward "hiding the capacities and abiding the time" in recent years. The "monographic study" emphasizes that conflicts should be held back with the actual strength of the country as the backing. It is believed that the goal of the Chinese national security should shift from barely winning a war to preventing crises from escalating. For the first time, the study mentions that in the issue of the Korean Peninsula, efforts should be made "to avoid the dispute from developing in the direction disadvantageous to us and to prevent the large fragmentation weapons from proliferating in the surrounding areas". This attitude as suggested in the study shows that China watches out closely for the development of North Korea's ground-to-ground ballistic missiles.

In evaluating the relationship between China and Japan, the "monographic study" analyzes the three historic periods of the development of the bilateral relations. It indicates that the China-Japanese relationship has developed from a strong-to-weak relationship before the Meiji Reformation of Japan (when China was strong while Japan was weak.), then to a weak-to-strong relationship after the Meiji Reformation (when China was weak while Japan was strong.), and finally to a strong-to-strong relationship today (when both countries are strong.). In this situation, there is evidently a large increase in the contradictions and problems.

Reviewing the development process of the US-Japanese alliance, the "monographic study" believes that in the long run, the trade friction and strategic conflicts between the United States and Japan will produce a negative effect on this alliance. However, it is a major component part of their new alliance to prevent China from becoming their new competitor. Although there exists in the new Japan-US security system an aspect that the United States contains Japan, China remains the major target this system is directed against.

The analysis of the "monographic study" predicts that considering the recent changes in the situation on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, the Taiwanese authorities may decide to develop and to be equipped with the medium-range and short-range ground-to-ground missiles with a range of over 1000 kilometers( Eedited by Satoko Tomiyama).