The Dragon Flies Under The Radar

Well, now, where was THIS story on the evening news or my local newspaper?:

A Chinese attack submarine and destroyer confronted the U.S. carrier Kitty Hawk and its battle group in the Taiwan Strait, sparking a tense 28-hour standoff that brought both sides to a battle-ready position.

The American ships were heading to Japan following China’s sudden cancellation of a scheduled Thanksgiving port call in Hong Kong when they encountered the Chinese vessels, according to the Navy Times, which cited a report in a Chinese-language newspaper in Taiwan.

The Times reported that the encounter caused the carrier group “to halt and ready for battle, as the Chinese vessels also stopped amid the 28-hour confrontation.”

The encounter ended without incident, however, and the U.S. ships continued on to Japan. The two Chinese vessels were also headed for a port call in Japan.

What precipitated this confrontation on the high (and international, let it be reiterated) seas?

China has expressed “grave concern” to the U.S. over the Kitty Hawk’s transit through the Taiwan Strait, the Times notes. Beijing claims Taiwan is Chinese territory.

But Admiral Timothy Keating, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, told reporters Tuesday: “We don’t need China’s permission to go through the Taiwan Strait. We will exercise our free right of passage whenever and wherever we choose.”

Indeed we will - until the next naval standoff that doesn't end peacefully, or January 20, 2009, when Hillary Clinton is inaugurated the 44th president of the United States, whichever comes first.

But extra-territoriality was just the pretext for what this was really about: muscle-flexing and pre-war probing of our naval capabilities and, ultimately, national will.  Given the scope and breadth of Beijing's ongoing (and Clinton-fueled) military buildup over the past decade-plus, covering upgrades to its ICBMs, state-of-the-art warships, fighter planes and submarines from Russia, and development of a number of asymmetrical weapons such as informational warfare, anti-satellite systems, and the nano-weapons that Lev Navrozov is always warning of, it is clear to the all too few observers willing to pay attention that the ChiComms have burgeoning global ambitions to match.  Taking Taiwan would be just the first step in an eventual showdown with the United States for planetary hegemony, and they would prefer to do so without armed resistance from any but the Taiwanese themselves.  And that resistance would be less likely, and certainly less effective, if we could be bullied away from keeping our commitments to defend the island nation.

If even the geldings playing out the string in the Bush White House can't be mustered to offer meaningful resistance to a blustering Iranian mullahgarchy on the brink of nuclear weaponhood that wouldn't recognize discretion if it was a green aura, what chance is there that President Rodham wouldn't wrap up Taiwan in a colorfully-wrapped box with a big, red bow on top and shove it under the ChiComms' "holiday tree," absent any additional "confrontations," much less defend American freedom of the seas?

One thing seems certain: We won't hear about it unless there's a "next time" that ends "with incident".  And dollars gets you doughnuts our intrepid media will figure out a way to blame it on George W. Bush.