Red Moon

Does this scare the shit out of anyone besides me? I'm really quite bothered when the Chinese threat is overlooked by nearly everyone on the planet except me and Bill Gertz.

China to test space weapon in launching moon satellite: rights group

We should be trying to figure out how to take them down hard and dissolve their brittle dictatorship of the proletariat into warring states that we can easily play against one another. Instead we buy shitty lead-laden toys from them in massive numbers.

My only consolation is the tentatively held belief that there are people in the Pentagon that understand the threat and are figuring out ways to prevent the Chinese from acquiring parity.

There's also target="_blank">this. A nice story about China re-exporting Israeli technology to Iran. And then don't forget about this. Is there any strategic interest we won't sell to our enemies?

Technorati: ChrisCam, webcam, Weblog, Blog, China, Space Weapons, War With China

Navy Confused About 'Intent' Of Chinese

From the Navy Times:

Navy confirms Chinese sub spotted near carrier
By Philip Creed
Staff writer

The Navy did spot a Chinese submarine near the Kitty Hawk Carrier Strike Group last month in the East China Sea, the Navy said Monday afternoon, verifying parts of a Monday morning article in The Washington Times that said a Chinese submarine had come within "firing range" of the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk on Oct. 26.

"While conducting operations, a Chinese navy Song-class submarine was sighted near the strike group by a U.S. Navy aircraft," said Navy spokesman Lt. Sarah Self-Kyler, who would say only that the incident occurred in "late October" near Okinawa, Japan.

Both ships were operating in international waters at the time, Self-Kyler said, and "there was no communication" between the submarine and any U.S. Navy vessels after the sub was spotted. The Kitty Hawk group was conducting routine carrier training at the time of the incident, Self-Kyler said, adding that the strike group was not conducting anti-submarine warfare operations during the exercise.

Ding ding ding. Wait a second. Are you seriously going to tell me that we deploy trillions of dollars worth of military hardware in the form of a Carrier, two Cruisers, several Destroyers and Frigates and dozens and dozens of aircraft, not to mention thousands of US Sailors, even for training or other non-warfare missions, and WE DON'T BOTHER TAKING BASIC ASW PRECAUTIONS ??? Whoever has that policy as the standard operating procedure should be fired immediately. Does that sort of incompetence and laziness and overconfidence smack of 1941 to anyone but me?

When you read the new Bill Gertz article in today's Washington Times, the statement goes like this: "The carrier was not engaged in anti-submarine warfare exercises at the time and thus did not have active patrols for submarines. As a result, submarine defenses for the carrier and its accompanying warships will be reviewed." What the FUCK? We're saying that because they weren't actively patrolling for submarines that they don't take any other measures? They can't detect enemy subs within 5 miles unless they're actively patrolling for them? That without a concerted effort to look for enemy subs that they were sitting ducks? Shouldn't passive defense at the very least be standard at all times out of port? Well officer, I was reading the newspaper while I was driving, so I couldn't possibly have seen the other car...

The Washington Times report claimed that the submarine "shadowed" Kitty Hawk, surfacing within five miles of the carrier before it was finally spotted by an aircraft.

Self-Kyler would confirm only that the sub was "in close proximity" of the strike group and could not say how long the submarine remained on the surface after being spotted.

News of the submarine spotting comes as Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Gary Roughead is visiting China to meet with civilian and military leaders. Roughead arrived Sunday for the weeklong visit, which includes a visit to the amphibious transport dock Juneau during a joint search-and-rescue exercise with the People's Liberation Army Navy, according to a Navy release.

According to an Associated Press report, Roughead "really would like to know what the intent is in some of the developments" he's seen in the navy of the People's Liberation Army. A Pacific Fleet spokesman would not comment Monday afternoon whether the sub incident would be among the subjects discussed by Roughead.

Kitty Hawk and a number of 7th Fleet ships are currently taking part in the AnnualEx 18G, the largest annual bilateral exercise between the Navy and Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force, according to the Navy.

The Kitty Hawk departed its home port of Yokosuka, Japan, on Oct. 17 for a fall deployment.

Hey Admiral Roughead! I think the intent of the Chinese is to gain enough intelligence and operational experience to eventually sink the 7th Fleet when the shit hits the fan! I'm not sure why you're confused about the 'intent' of this future enemy. The intent is to test and gauge and probe and assess. Our intent seems to be simply to let them! But hey, whatever. Keep on schmoozing with the warlords of the dictatorship. I'm sure they'll love visiting the USS Juneau and seeing how we conduct operations. Maybe you could just give them the keys to the Situation Room at the Pentagon? I mean why not. The Chinese already seem to have free roam of our top secret nuclear weapons labs at Los Alamos. Just escort them into the war room and let them see everything. Let them see the big board! I mean my God, the big board!



The Washington Times' intrepid reporter Bill Gertz has a new column about the military's response to his piece yesterday. Read it here. I think the funniest part in this column is where Gertz reports:

The submarine encounter also took U.S. intelligence agencies by surprise because of years of analyses that continue to portray a benign China, said a defense official.

"Our China analysts appeared to be stunned that China would shadow a U.S. carrier as far away as Okinawa," the defense official said."

Well. Doesn't THAT make our collective selves look stupid. They were stunned?! Anyone following public news reports over the past ten years or reading official statements of the PLA and the Communist dictatorship would have recognized that the Chinese intend to challenge our control of the East Asian sphere. I wonder if these are the same intelligence officials responsible for WMD and Bin Laden? God help us all.

Technorati: ChrisCam, webcam, Weblog, Blog, China, Bill Gertz, Military, War With China, USS Kitty Hawk, Dr Strangelove, Pearl Harbor

7th Fleet Sees Red (Or Rather, Doesn't See It At All)

Go read this over here and then come back.

Finished? Right, so, question. How did a Soviet built submarine, technology which we've spent untold billions or trillions of dollars and nearly 50 years targeting and overcoming, get inside the defensive perimeter of a Carrier Battle Group? How in God's name was a Chinese submarine allowed to surface within 5 miles of one of our most expensive national assets and was only discovered because an air patrol just happened to spot it on the surface?

Now, I'm not an expert on naval practices while on deployment in the Western Pacific. I don't know the 'protocol' whilst patrolling off the coast of our largest military adversary. But if I were a betting man, I would place my money on a newfangled technology called 'sonar'. This 'sonar' works like radar, only underwater. It allows a ship to 'see' an enemy before that enemy has the chance to sink a half a trillion dollar aircraft carrier and 5000 men. I would probably have this 'sonar' TURNED THE FUCK ON whenever I was deployed and on active patrol.

The only thing missing from this encounter was a giant red bullseye target painted on the USS Kitty Hawk. Where the fuck were the ASW screens? These destroyers and helicopters and cruisers are supposed to detect and destroy enemy submarines BEFORE they get anywhere near the Carrier. And actually, there is supposed to be an attack submarine with the group who's sole purpose is to engage enemy subs. I just checked and as far as I can tell there is no attack sub assigned to Strike Group 06.

I would also like to point out that the Kitty Hawk and her battle group are forward deployed and just recently participated in a major exercise called Valiant Shield. From Globalsecurity.org: "One of the main events of Kitty Hawk’s summer underway period will be Exercise Valiant Shield, which will see two other aircraft carrier strike groups as well as U.S. Air Force assets join up with Kitty Hawk to conduct exercises near the Northern Marianas Islands. The purpose of the exercise is to demonstrate the continuing ability of the U.S. military to project strength on the high seas." And then.... oops! She was sunk by a Soviet era piece of technology. Good example of being able to project strength on the high seas!

Isn't this situation the EXACT scenario that we constructed our ships for, trained our men for and drilled for? The only difference is the nationality of the people crewing the sub that beat us. I think we should stop our official policy of trying to be nice and friendly to the Chinese military by showing them our top secret command centers and instead focus on blowing them out of the fucking water when the shit hits the fan sometime in the future.

Technorati: ChrisCam, webcam, Weblog, Blog, China/a>, 7th Fleet, USS Kitty Hawk, Cold War, Military, War With China

Congressional Blog Reading

So after I droned on about Google willingly, eagerly assisting in the repression of a billion people, I saw only a little coverage on the blogosphere. It wasn't until yesterday mid-day that the topic really exploded on the Internet. But even then I didn't see very many people calling for government action.

The Google story made the newscasts in the second or third segments last night. I was fairly upset that nobody seemed to care in the media. So I was pleased to see this morning that Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey is calling for an investigation. I'm glad that someone on Capitol hill is paying attention to the online commentary.

US congressman takes Google to task on China
By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington
The decision by Chris Smith, a Republican congressman from New Jersey who chairs a House subcommittee on Human Rights, to call for a February 16 hearing to examine the operating procedures of US internet companies in China, represents the first signs of what could become a serious backlash against Google and other internet companies in Washington that are perceived as capitulating to the Chinese government.

Mr Smith on Wednesday accused Google of “collaborating .. with persecutors” who imprison and torture Chinese citizens “in the service of truth”.

“It is astounding that Google, whose corporate philosophy is ‘don’t be evil’ would enable evil by cooperating with China’s censorship policies just to make a buck,” he said.

YES! Exactly what I said! In fact I used almos tthe same phraseology. I wonder if the Congressman likes to watch the ChrisCam...

Google Bows to Communist Dictatorship

Fresh from refusing to divulge to American authorities the search patterns of child pornographers because of 'privacy concerns', Google has announced that it is willing to bend over and take it up the ass from the dictatorship in Beijing.

It absolutely disgusts me that an American company, founded by hippie-esque grungies who pride themselves on love of free software, would willingly assist in the repression of over a billion people. While it makes perfect sense for a communist dictatorship to force its people into the information dark ages, it is sickening that any company that has made its billions on the premise of free access to information would stoop to this level.

I think Congress should pass a law imposing punitive damages against any company that actively participates in the enslavement of an entire people. And all for the sake of making a buck. Larry Page and Sergey Brin ought to be utterly ashamed.

From the AP:

Google Agrees to Censor Results in China
Jan 24 7:34 PM US/Eastern
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE
AP Business Writer
SAN FRANCISCO
Online search engine leader Google Inc. has agreed to censor its results in China, adhering to the country's free-speech restrictions in return for better access in the Internet's fastest growing market.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company planned to roll out a new version of its search engine bearing China's Web suffix ".cn," on Wednesday. A Chinese-language version of Google's search engine has previously been available through the company's dot-com address in the United States.

By creating a unique address for China, Google hopes to make its search engine more widely available and easier to use in the world's most populous country.

Because of government barriers set up to suppress information, Google's China users previously have been blocked from using the search engine or encountered lengthy delays in response time.

The service troubles have frustrated many Chinese users, hobbling Google's efforts to expand its market share in a country that expected to emerge as an Internet gold mine over the next decade.

China already has more than 100 million Web surfers and the audience is expected to swell substantially _ an alluring prospect for Google as it tries to boost its already rapidly rising profits.

Baidu.com Inc., a Beijing-based company in which Google owns a 2.6 percent stake, currently runs China's most popular search engine. But a recent Keynote Systems survey of China's Internet preferences concluded that Baidu remains vulnerable to challenges from Google and Yahoo Inc.

To obtain the Chinese license, Google agreed to omit Web content that the country's government finds objectionable. Google will base its censorship decisons on guidance provided by Chinese government officials.

Although China has loosened some of its controls in recent years, some topics, such as Taiwan's independence and 1989's Tiananmen Square massacre, remain forbidden subjects.

Google officials characterized the censorship concessions in China as an excruciating decision for a company that adopted "don't be evil" as a motto. But management believes it's a worthwhile sacrifice.

"We firmly believe, with our culture of innovation, Google can make meaningful and positive contributions to the already impressive pace of development in China," said Andrew McLaughlin, Google's senior policy counsel.

Google's decision rankled Reporters Without Borders, a media watchdog group that has sharply criticized Internet companies including Yahoo and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN.com for submitting to China's censorship regime.

"This is a real shame," said Julien Pain, head of Reporters Without Borders' Internet desk. "When a search engine collaborates with the government like this, it makes it much easier for the Chinese government to control what is being said on the Internet."

When Google censors results in China, it intends to post notifications alerting users that some content has been removed _ to comply with local laws. The company provides similar alerts in Germany and France when, to comply with national laws, it censors results to remove references to Nazi paraphernalia.

Google is cooperating with China's government at the same time it is battling the U.S. government over a subpoena seeking a breakdown of one week's worth of search requests _ a list that would cover millions of terms.

Reflecting its uneasy alliance with the Chinese government, Google isn't releasing all its services.

Neither Google's e-mail nor blogging services will be offered in China because the company doesn't want to risk being ordered by the government to turn over anyone's personal information. The e-mail service, called Gmail, creates a huge database of users' messages and makes them instantly searchable. The blogging services contain a wide range of personal background.

Yahoo came under fire last year after it provided the government with the e-mail account information of a Chinese journalist who was later convicted for violating state secrecy laws.

Initially, Google's Chinese service will be limited to searching Web pages and images. The company also will provide local search results and a special edition of its news service that will be confined to government-sanctioned media.

Do you know what the company's mission statement is? The company mission is "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." Fat chance of that. The vision apparently only applies to non-Chinese.

For keeping up with Google's ongoing attempts to deep-throat the collective boner of every repressive regime in the world, check out Google Watch. Read the section on China. It will chill your bones.

Technorati: google, chinese, china, communism, dictatorship, repression

Chinese Discover America in 1418

So what. The Chinese own the world?! They already make everything that Wal-Mart sells (which, since seeing a piece on PBS, I refuse to buy any product from). They already 'own' every 19th and 20th Century industry (textiles, electronics, will-work-for-dirt-labor to build anything, and watch out GM!). Luckily we still own the next few generations' worth of important industry. And luckily our military could bomb them back to the Era of Warring States (yes I specialized in Chinese history when at school in Boston, go Sox).

But still, is it not enough that they have three times our population? Now they want to lay claim to discovering the Americas?! That seriously gets my scottish white Anglo-Saxon Protestant ire up. And if the movie Braveheart proved anything, it's don't piss off an angry, drunk Scots (I'm delayed at O'hare as of this entry and I'm very PISSED off. And I'm sitting in the Red Carpet Club in F Concourse. So that means I'm drunk). From the BBC:

A map due to be unveiled in Beijing and London next week may lend weight to a theory a Chinese admiral discovered America before Christopher Columbus.

The map, which shows North and South America, apparently states that it is a 1763 copy of another map made in 1418.

If true, it could imply Chinese mariners discovered and mapped America decades before Columbus' 1492 arrival.

You know what, LET it be true. LET the Chinese claim the discovery of America. That would give us as much right to hold over their heads our tremendous relative advancement as we currently do over the Europeans. Well aside from the fact that the Chinese are to the United States what the Ostragoths (or perhaps the Visigoths) were to Rome. I mean really, you had rockets in 500BC? And you are just NOW going into sub-orbit? What is WRONG with you?

The map, which is being dated to check it was made in 1763, faces a lot of scepticism from experts.

Chinese characters written beside the map say it was drawn by Mo Yi Tong and copied from a map made in the 16th year of the Emperor Yongle, or 1418.

It clearly shows Africa and Australia.

The British Isles, however, are not marked.

Of course not! If that were the case, then it would imply that the Chinese discovered Britain before the reign of Elizabeth I. We couldn't possibly tolerate the discovery Britain by the Chinese a full 400 years before the fine English race enslaved the Chinese in an opiate-enduced orgy of imperialism! Perish the thought and pass the tea!

The Australians don't care much at all, obviously. They accept the fact that their entire race was the product of exiled convicts from the rest of the Empire. And yes, I use the word Empire to denote the British Empire. Let's face it, that was the last political entity to deserve the name. Bully!

1930s Redux

I'm not paranoid about conflict with China. I think there are many parallels to Japan in the 1930s in terms of how they feel vis a vis American hegemony. I think that there is also a similar lack of determination on America's part to actually deal with the emerging Great Power in Asia. We really are committing some of the exact same errors that we did in the years leading up to Pearl Harbor.

Hacker attacks in US linked to Chinese military: researchers

Dec 12 5:56 PM US/Eastern

A systematic effort by hackers to penetrate US government and industry computer networks stems most likely from the Chinese military, the head of a leading security institute said. The attacks have been traced to the Chinese province of Guangdong, and the techniques used make it appear unlikely to come from any other source than the military, said Alan Paller, the director of the SANS Institute, an education and research organization focusing on cybersecurity.

"These attacks come from someone with intense discipline. No other organization could do this if they were not a military organization," Paller said in a conference call to announced a new cybersecurity education program.

In the attacks, Paller said, the perpetrators "were in and out with no keystroke errors and left no fingerprints, and created a backdoor in less than 30 minutes. How can this be done by anyone other than a military organization?"

Paller said that despite what appears to be a systematic effort to target government agencies and defense contractors, defenses have remained weak in many areas.

"We know about major penetrations of defense contractors," he said.

Security among private-sector Pentagon contractors may not be as robust, said Paller, because "they are less willing to make it hard for mobile people to get their work done."

Paller said the US government strategy appears to be to downplay the attacks, which has not helped the situation.

"We have a problem that our computer networks have been terribly and deeply penetrated throughout the United States ... and we've been keeping it secret," he said.

"The people who benefit from keeping it secret are the attackers."

Although Paller said the hackers probably have not obtained classified documents from the Pentagon, which uses a more secure network, it is possible they stole "extremely sensitive" information.

He said it has been documented that US military flight planning software from its Redstone Arsenal was stolen.

Pentagon officials confirmed earlier this year that US Defense Department websites are probed hundreds of times a day by hackers, but maintained that no classified site is known to have been penetrated by hackers.

The US military has code-named the recent hacker effort "Titan Rain" and has made some strides in counter-hacking to identify the attackers, Paller said. This was first reported by Time magazine.

Paller said a series of attacks on British computer networks reported earlier this year may have similar goals, but seems to use different techniques.

In the United States, he said there are some areas of improvement such as the case of the Air Force, which has been insisting on better security from its IT vendors. But he argued that "the fundamental error is that America's security strategy relies on writing reports rather than hardening systems."

Asian Allies Predict Chinese Victory

Scary. I mean, I know what my fears are, but it seems that our allies in Asia have similar fears. We can only pray that the Cindy Sheehan/We Surrender/Democratic Party doesn't control the Executive Branch when war with China comes.

East Asia allies doubt U.S. could win war with China
News World Communications

The overwhelming assessment by Asian officials, diplomats and analysts is that the U.S. military simply cannot defeat China. It has been an assessment relayed to U.S. government officials over the past few months by countries such as Australia, Japan and South Korea. This comes as President Bush wraps up a visit to Asia, in which he sought to strengthen U.S. ties with key allies in the region.

Most Asian officials have expressed their views privately. Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara has gone public, warning that the United States would lose any war with China.

"In any case, if tension between the United States and China heightens, if each side pulls the trigger, though it may not be stretched to nuclear weapons, and the wider hostilities expand, I believe America cannot win as it has a civic society that must adhere to the value of respecting lives," Mr. Ishihara said in an address to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Mr. Ishihara said U.S. ground forces, with the exception of the Marines, are "extremely incompetent" and would be unable to stem a Chinese conventional attack. Indeed, he asserted that China would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons against Asian and American cities—even at the risk of a massive U.S. retaliation.

The governor said the U.S. military could not counter a wave of millions of Chinese soldiers prepared to die in any onslaught against U.S. forces. After 2,000 casualties, he said, the U.S. military would be forced to withdraw.

"Therefore, we need to consider other means to counter China," he said. "The step we should be taking against China, I believe, is economic containment."

Officials acknowledge that Mr. Ishihara's views reflect the widespread skepticism of U.S. military capabilities in such countries as Australia, India, Japan, Singapore and South Korea. They said the U.S.-led war in Iraq has pointed to the American weakness in low-tech warfare.

"When we can't even control parts of Anbar, they get the message loud and clear," an official said, referring to the flashpoint province in western Iraq.

As a result, Asian allies of the United States are quietly preparing to bolster their militaries independent of Washington. So far, the Bush administration has been strongly opposed to an indigenous Japanese defense capability, fearing it would lead to the expulsion of the U.S. military presence from that country.

...

For his part, Mr. Ishihara does not see China as evolving into a stable democracy with free elections.

"I believe such predictions are totally wrong," Mr. Ishihara said.

I am not sure what Ishihara bases his low opinion of the Army on. Needless to say I disagree entirely. But I share the overall sentiment that we know how to win a 21st Century war but not a low-tech one.

Notice that our friends in the Pacific rim fully expect war to come. It seems the only ones who think war will somehow be avoided live in the United States. Sort of like the 1930s...

It Isn't Just Me

I'm not the only paranoid one. Time magazine has picked up on the story of Chinese hackers.

Red Hackers Target US?

We've known about this for a while, but it is scary nonetheless. Whether it is a bunch of hippie hacksters protesting something by hacking the Pentagon or if it is a concerted effort by the Chinese to gain American secrets, it has to be stopped.

Hackers Attack Via Chinese Web Sites
U.S. Agencies' Networks Are Among Targets
By Bradley Graham
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 25, 2005

Web sites in China are being used heavily to target computer networks in the Defense Department and other U.S. agencies, successfully breaching hundreds of unclassified networks, according to several U.S. officials.

Classified systems have not been compromised, the officials added. But U.S. authorities remain concerned because, as one official said, even seemingly innocuous information, when pulled together from various sources, can yield useful intelligence to an adversary.

"The scope of this thing is surprisingly big," said one of four government officials who spoke separately about the incidents, which stretch back as far as two or three years and have been code-named Titan Rain by U.S. investigators. All officials insisted on anonymity, given the sensitivity of the matter.

Whether the attacks constitute a coordinated Chinese government campaign to penetrate U.S. networks and spy on government databanks has divided U.S. analysts. Some in the Pentagon are said to be convinced of official Chinese involvement; others see the electronic probing as the work of other hackers simply using Chinese networks to disguise the origins of the attacks.

"It's not just the Defense Department but a wide variety of networks that have been hit," including the departments of State, Energy and Homeland Security as well as defense contractors, the official said. "This is an ongoing, organized attempt to siphon off information from our unclassified systems."

Another official, however, cautioned against exaggerating the severity of the intrusions. He said the attacks, while constituting "a large volume," were "not the biggest thing going on out there."

Apart from acknowledging the existence of Titan Rain and providing a sketchy account of its scope, the officials who were interviewed declined to offer further details, citing legal and political considerations and a desire to avoid giving any advantage to the hackers. One official said the FBI has opened an investigation into the incidents. The FBI declined to comment.

One official familiar with the investigation said it has not provided definitive evidence of who is behind the attacks. "Is this an orchestrated campaign by PRC or just a bunch of disconnected hackers? We just can't say at this point," the official said, referring to the People's Republic of China.

With the threat of computer intrusions on the rise generally among Internet users, U.S. government officials have made no secret that their systems, like commercial and household ones, are subject to attack. Because the Pentagon has more computers than any other agency -- about 5 million worldwide -- it is the most exposed to foreign as well as domestic hackers, the officials said.

The disturbing part to me is the willingness of the government to use commercial software to run sensitive systems. I had always just assumed that our secret info was stored on systems that were not only firewalled but physically disconnected from the Internet. And that beyond being physically secure that they utilized software that wasn't available to anyone and everyone. I certainly hope that the version of Windows running on Pentagon computers is a special version created by Microsoft just for the US Government and not the version I can hack in 2 minutes with free software.

Pentagon figures show that more attempts to scan Defense Department systems come from China, which has 119 million Internet users, than from any other country. VanPutte said this does not mean that China is where all the probes start, only that it is "the last hop" before they reach their targets.

He noted that China is a convenient "steppingstone" for hackers because of the large number of computers there that can be compromised. Also, tracing hackers who use Chinese networks is complicated by the lack of cyber investigation agreements between China and the United States, another task force official said.

The number of attempted intrusions from all sources identified by the Pentagon last year totaled about 79,000, defense officials said, up from about 54,000 in 2003. Of those, hackers succeeded in gaining access to a Defense Department computer in about 1,300 cases. The vast majority of these instances involved what VanPutte called "low risk" computers.

That isn't the point. The point is that they got in at all. I've done work for the government in the IT area. I know the laxidasical mentality that, when combined with the normal bureaucratic incomptetence, leads to simply astounding lapses in basic security protocols. Seriously. There are gas station companies I've done IT work for that have better information security than some government agencies.

Concern about computer attacks from China comes amid heightened U.S. worry generally about Chinese military activities. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld warned in June that China's military spending threatened the security balance in Asia, and the Pentagon's latest annual report on Chinese military power, released last month, described the ongoing modernization of Beijing's armed forces.

The report contained a separate section on development of computer attack systems by China's military. It said the People's Liberation Army (PLA) sees computer network operations as "critical to seize the initiative" in establishing "electromagnetic dominance" early in a conflict to increase effectiveness in battle.

"The PLA has likely established information warfare units to develop viruses to attack enemy computer systems and networks, and tactics to protect friendly computer systems and networks," the report said.

"The PLA has increased the role of CNO [computer network operations] in its military exercises," the report added. "Although initial training efforts focused on increasing the PLA's proficiency in defensive measures, recent exercises have incorporated offensive operations, primarily as first strikes against enemy networks."

The computer attacks from China have given added impetus to Pentagon moves to adopt new detection software programs and improve training of computer security specialists, several officials said.

"It's a constant game of staying one step ahead," one said.

The notion that these attacks are just a loose grouping of disgruntled people in the hacker community is laughable to me and likly is to the Pentagon's infosys security folks. The attacks are coordinated, systematic, and thorough. Teenage hackers aren't typically interested in gleaning information unless there is profit to be made from it (i.e. credit card numbers). The type of information being stolen, such as mapping information, weather data, etc., much of which is publicly available, is not commercially valuable. On the other hand, it is vital information for an opponent. Furthermore, it gives them valuable information on how and where to compromise our systems rapidly in the opening hours of war.

Peace Mission 2005

The dubiously named Peace Mission 2005, a series of wargames with combined Russian and Chinese troops, continued today with the biggest display of force in the two week exercise.

Chinese, Russian Troops Join War Games
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN
Associated Press Writer Tue Aug 23, 2:22 AM ET

SHANGHAI, China - Nearly 9,000 Russian and Chinese troops began a mock assault on the beaches of northern China Tuesday in the final stage of unprecedented joint war games between the two former Cold War rivals.

The live-fire exercise, dubbed "Peace Mission 2005," involves about 7,000 Chinese troops and 1,800 Russians, along with warships, warplanes and amphibious tanks.

Operations began with a simulated naval blockade off the coast of the Shandong Peninsula in the Yellow Sea, southeast of Beijing, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported. Chinese state television showed ships and warplanes firing missiles and rockets while military music blared from shipboard speakers.

Right. Peace Mission. A peace mission that just happens to fit exactly how the Red Chinese would go about an invasion of Taiwan. Why is it that Communists have to advertise their military exercises in ostentatious displays of propaganda?

Chinese participants included three destroyers, three frigates and one submarine, along with naval aircraft, Xinhua said. They were joined by an anti-submarine vessel, missile destroyer, helicopters and a surveillance plane from the Russian navy, it said.

Top Chinese and Russian generals have sought to reassure the region that the exercises aren't directed against any third nation. Under the fictional scenario for the exercises, the forces have a U.N. mandate to stabilize a country plunged into violence by ethnic strife.

Yet Chinese media have also said the exercises are intended to advertise China's determination to deal with regional terrorist, extremist and separatist threats — the last a likely reference to self-governing Taiwan, which China has vowed to reclaim by force if necessary.

The games "will frighten the three evil forces of 'ethnic separatism, religious extremism and international terrorism,'" Maj. Gen. Peng Guanglian, a frequent hardline critic of Taiwan and the United States, was quoted as saying in an interview with the Shanghai's Oriental Morning Post.

The eight-day exercises were inaugurated last week in the Russian port of Vladivostok; they end Thursday.

The war games reflect strengthening ties between Russia and China over shared concerns about U.S. dominance of world affairs. U.S. officials have said they are watching the exercises closely and hope they will help support regional stability.

Russia is also seeking to sell more arms to China, one of its leading customers, including long-range strategic bombers able to carry nuclear weapons.

The exercises have sparked controversy in Russia over how closely the nation should cooperate with China, which many Russians see as a potential threat because of its size, economic might and proximity to sparsely populated, resource-rich Siberia.

...

I'm absolutely serious when I say that we'll have to fight the bastards someday. I certainly hope the Russians will stay out of the fight. In the meantime, let's keep spreading western consumerism. Maybe they'll start buying more of our stuff.

Australia Surrenders 40% of World's Uranium to Red China

Buried in the Business section of today's Herald Sun (Australia) comes this ominous story:

China's plans could make us uranium rich
Scott Murdoch
10aug05

THE Federal Government has taken the first step to sell uranium to China, less than a week after it seized control of the Northern Territory's yellowcake resources.

Australia will demand that China, a global growth powerhouse, signs an agreement to ensure the controversial commodity is used only for power generation and not military purposes.

Oh yeah. That'll work. I can just see it: Now don't go making weapons with this stuff ok China? Give me your word...give it...come on...scouts honor...come on..OK! The word of an evil neofascist dictatorship is good enough for me! Here ya go!

Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer ... would not say how much the agreement could be worth or whether China had stated how much it would buy. But calculations by the Herald Sun show the deal could be worth almost $690 million if China bought all of its uranium demands from Australia.

...

The Federal Government last week took the unusual step of taking control of the Northern Territory's rich uranium deposits.

...

Australia holds about 40 per cent of the world's uranium supply and sells about 10,500 tonnes a year to the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea.

China buys almost 750 tonnes of uranium a year.

Uranium Information Centre manager Ian Hore-Lacy said China would eventually demand 8000 tonnes of yellowcake a year by 2020, based on its current power generation expansion plans.

"We would not expect them to buy uranium from Australia for military purposes," Mr Hore-Lacy said.

Now, I'm not saying that the Chinese are going to suddenly monopolize consumption of the world's uranium supply as they've done with the world's steel and concrete supplies, but surely it isn't in the interest of the West to encourage and supply the military buildup of a revisionist, expansionist China.

The notion that they won't weaponize the yellowcake is just plain silly. That's like trusting Stalin, Hitler or Fidel Castro. This regime is similarly built on dishonesty, corruption and deviousness. It cloaks itself in shadow and uses intimidation, torture and systematic repression to stay in power just like the Soviets or Nazis. It seeks to overturn the regional and global balance of power. There is no good reason, not $680 million nor $680 billion, to provide it access to the world's richest supply of uranium.

While We Debated

I won't even bother discussing the Supreme Court nominee announced tonight by the President. I'm sure that the issue will be laboriously dissected by every person with a computer and an internet connection. To say nothing of the bloggers who have no doubt already posted millions of mostly meaningless words on both sides of the issue.

Frankly I don't have much to add to that discussion.

Instead I'd rather continue to highlight the looming threat that to me is almost more important to the lives of my children than whether abortion remains legal or not. I point at the ominous report out of China:

China build-up includes missiles, jets, warships

WASHINGTON, July 19 (Reuters) - China not only is massing forces facing Taiwan, but developing new long-range missiles and acquiring an arsenal of sophisticated jets and warships in an ambitious arms build-up, the United States said on Tuesday.

Over the "next several years", Beijing will deploy a DF-31 road-mobile, solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile and a JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missile, the Pentagon said in an annual report to Congress on Chinese military power.

The current military focus by the People's Liberation Army stresses protecting Chinese borders and waters and intimidating Taiwan, according to the 44-page report, which lists a broad range of new armaments from fighter jets to submarines.

Here is a breakdown of some of weapons listed and a look at efforts by Beijing's huge PLA ground forces to slim down and mobilize:

Ballistic missiles:

About 650-730 mobile CSS-6 and CSS-7 short-range missiles in coastal garrisons opposite Taiwan. Deployment is increasing by about 100 missiles a year, including improved range and accuracy in newer versions.

The military is also modernizing its longer-range missile fleet with newer, more survivable versions including the mobile DF-31 and JL-2.

Air Power:

More than 700 aircraft within un-refueled operational range of Taiwan. Many are outdated, but Beijing continues acquiring sleek fighters from Russia, including the Su-30MKK multi-role and Su-Mk2 maritime strike aircraft.

New jet acquisitions are augmenting previous deliveries of Su-27 fighters and China is building its own version of the Su-27SK, the F-11, under agreement with Moscow.

Improvements to older FB-7 fighters will give them nighttime maritime strike capability and China has programs underway to deploy new protective electronic jammers on bombers, transports, tactical aircraft and unmanned spy planes.

The PLA is also acquiring from abroad, or developing at home, advanced precision strike weapons such as cruise missiles and air-to-air, air-to-surface and radar-destroying munitions.

Naval Power:

Includes 64 major surface warships, 55 attack submarines, 40 medium and heavy amphibious lift vessels and about 50 coastal missile patrol craft. Two-thirds of the fleet is located in the East and South Sea fleets.

China has deployed two new Russian-made Sovremennyy class guided-missile destroyers in the East Sea Fleet and an additional two are under contract. All are fitted with advanced anti-ship cruise missiles and air defense systems.

China's Song class diesel electric submarine has entered serial production. Last year, China launched a new diesel submarine, the Yuan class, and it is expected to field its next-generation nuclear attack submarine, the Type 093. this year.

Beijing is also acquiring eight additional Kilo class diesel electric submarines from Russia in addition to four previously-purchased boats. The new subs will include advanced SS-N-27 anti-ship cruise missiles and and wire-guided and wake-seeking torpedoes.

Ground Forces:

China has 375,000 troops deployed to three military regions opposite Taiwan and has been upgrading those units with amphibious armor and military vehicles, including tanks.

The PLA is expected to complete another round of downsizing -- slashing 200,000 troops by the end of this year -- to bring the size of the PLA to about 2.3 million, according to official statistics. But the pentagon said paramilitary, police and reserves boost that figure to 3.2 million.

China's 2004 Defense White Paper noted that China can also draw upon more than 10 million organized militia members.

The Army acquired additional M1-17/171 medium-lift helicopters from Russia last year and is developing its own attack helicopter, the Z-10, which could enter service in 2014.

It seems we learn little from our own history. December 7th, 1941, the day that should live in infamy, grows more remote in our collective history with each passing year...

Another Chinese Threat

And y'all think I'm a nutcase when I presage war with China. From the Financial Times:

China is prepared to use nuclear weapons against the US if it is attacked by Washington during a confrontation over Taiwan, a Chinese general said on Thursday.

“If the Americans draw their missiles and position-guided ammunition on to the target zone on China's territory, I think we will have to respond with nuclear weapons,” said General Zhu Chenghu.

Gen Zhu was speaking at a function for foreign journalists organised, in part, by the Chinese government. He added that China's definition of its territory included warships and aircraft.

“If the Americans are determined to interfere [then] we will be determined to respond,” said Gen Zhu, who is also a professor at China's National Defence University.

“We . . . will prepare ourselves for the destruction of all of the cities east of Xian. Of course the Americans will have to be prepared that hundreds . . . of cities will be destroyed by the Chinese.”

And what would you think if California was suddenly and totally annihilated by a Chinese nuke one morning? I suspect it might change a few minds.

Standing by our friends and allies in the Pacific must not be contingent upon Chinese threats or the lack thereof. I would hope that if the evil that pervades the mainland made even the slightest attempt to invade the free democracy on Taiwan that we would commit fully to their defense. Conventionally, preferably. But the communists should be under no illusion that we would wipe the middle kingdom from the face of the planet if they dared to initiate a nuclear conflict.

Threat to National Security, Part 1

First off, let me say I'm a firm believer in the market, globalization in general, free trade and international capitalism. However, when all players don't play by the same rules, I begin to have issues with global trade.

But I absolutely draw the line at allowing enemies to own companies that are vital to national security. No matter how 'superior' they may be:

AP: CNOOC to Press on With Unocal Bid

By JOE McDONALD
The Associated Press
Thursday, June 30, 2005; 12:53 PM

BEIJING -- CNOOC Ltd. will press ahead with its takeover bid for Unocal Corp. despite a planned shareholder vote on a competing offer by Chevron Corp. and Unocal's recommendation that it should be accepted, the Chinese company's chairman said Thursday.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Fu Chengyu expressed confidence that CNOOC will persuade Washington the $18.5 billion offer for the ninth-largest U.S. oil company doesn't pose any risks to American national security.

"We'll continue to talk in negotiations, and we will meet with government figures for the (security) review," Fu said by telephone from his Beijing office. "I believe that our superior offer, which will help shareholders, this will convince the U.S. government this is a good offer."

Unocal, based in El Segundo, Calif., sent its shareholders proxy materials Wednesday with a letter from chairman and chief executive officer Charles R. Williamson reiterating its board's recommendation to accept the $16.6 billion offer by Chevron.

CNOOC says its all-cash offer will benefit the United States by paying Unocal shareholders more and causing fewer job losses. Chevron, based in San Ramon, Calif., has countered that its offer already has received regulatory approval and a switch to CNOOC could require lengthy new reviews.

Fu wouldn't say whether CNOOC might raise its offer.

"I think this is a kind of strategy that shouldn't be discussed," he said. "We don't have firm plans as to what we'll do. But we do have something that we are developing."

Fu denied that CNOOC was acting on behalf of China's government, which is in the midst of a multibillion-dollar campaign to secure foreign oil and gas supplies to power its booming economy.

Some members of Congress are urging President Bush to block CNOOC's bid, arguing that the deal threatens national security.

If Unocal decided to entertain the CNOOC offer, the deal would have to pass the scrutiny of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, headed by Treasury Secretary John Snow.

However, some members of Congress are seeking to bar the Treasury Department from taking such action.

The chief concern is that CNOOC's bid for Unocal is part of a broader strategy by communist China to hoard energy supplies before they run out.

In a letter to Congress on Monday, Fu said CNOOC was eager to submit to such a review. He also attempted to address some of the concerns the deal raises about America's energy security by noting that Unocal's oil and gas production amounts to less than 1 percent of all U.S. consumption.

CNOOC also says it would consider selling some Unocal assets and putting those in the United States not connected to oil production under U.S. management if necessary.

CNOOC is based in Hong Kong but 70 percent of its shares are owned by China's third-largest government oil company. Fu is president of the mainland parent company in addition to his posts as chairman and chief executive officer of CNOOC.

"This company is driven purely by economics," Fu said. "If there's a good market, the more we can supply, the more value we can add for shareholders. Not because the government asked us to do it, but because we believe it's the profitable thing to do."

Fu said CNOOC wants Unocal's reserves, 70 percent of which are in Asia and 60 percent of which are gas _ a fuel that China is eager to acquire as an alternative to dirtier coal.

...

Earlier Thursday, the Chinese government tried to mollify American anxiety, insisting the bid is purely commercial and saying it wanted to see both the United States and China benefit.

"China wants to find a `win-win' result," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao.

"This issue is a commercial transaction between two companies, and a normal exchange between China and the United States," Liu said. "It should stay free of political interference."

Well, the Chinese would certainly know about political interference in the markets.

The audacity of the Chinese government is amazing to me. They are simply attempting to undermine our oil refining capacity and bolster their own. It doesn't seem prudent to me since I believe we will end up having to wage war with them one day.

America Answers To China Now?

Last time I checked, Unocal was still an American company and not owned by the Chinese totalitarian state yet. Evidently, nobody told the Chinese...

China tells U.S. not to meddle in oil deal
Wed Jun 29 2005 10:06:28 ET

China expressed opposition to interference in a government-controlled oil company's bid for the U.S.-based oil company Unocal, state media said Wednesday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said that China National Offshore Oil Corporation's $18.5 billion offer for Unocal was "normal commercial activity between enterprises."

Liu said "economic cooperation between China and the U.S. serves the interests of both sides and commercial activities should not be interfered in or disturbed by political elements."

There are growing concerns in Washington over the deal as some U.S. officials are uncomfortable with CNOOC, 70 percent owned by the Chinese government, controlling a major player in the U.S. energy sector.

Xinhua reported Wednesday that CNOOC Chief Executive Fu Chengyu is heading to the United States for negotiations and to dispel concerns over the deal.

Seriously, who do they think they are telling us what we can and can't do with American companies? I hardly think it is in our interest to sell our oil refining capacity off to our enemies.

The next thing you know, they'll be telling our law enforcement not to meddle in their illegal spying activities in our country. Or interfere with their quiet grab for global hegemony...

US is China's #1 Enemy

From Bill Gertz's column today in the Washington Times:

Beijing devoted to weakening 'enemy' U.S., defector says
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
June 27, 2005

China's communist leaders view the United States as their main enemy and are working in Asia and around the world to undermine U.S. alliances, said a former Chinese diplomat.

Chen Yonglin, until recently a senior political officer at the Chinese Consulate in Sydney, Australia, said in an interview that China also is engaged in large-scale intelligence-gathering activities in the United States that, in the past, netted large amounts of confidential U.S. government documents from agents.

"The United States is considered by the Chinese Communist Party as the largest enemy, the major strategic rival," Mr. Chen told The Washington Times in a telephone interview from Australia, where he is in hiding after breaking with Beijing in May.

All Chinese government officials are ordered to gather information about the United States, "no matter how trivial," he said. "The United States occupies a unique place in China's diplomacy," Mr. Chen said.

...

Most Chinese government activity in the United States involves information-gathering carried out by military-related intelligence officers or civilians linked to the Ministry of State Security, Mr. Chen said.

"I know that China once got a heavy load of confidential documents from the United States and sent it back to China through the Cosco ship," Mr. Chen said, referring to the state-owned China Ocean Shipping Co.

The information was "very useful" to China's military and related to "aircraft technology," he said.

The Chinese also send political police abroad to monitor overseas Chinese and others in North America who Beijing considers opponents of the regime, he said.

China's government has targeted Australia as part of its "money diplomacy" and is working hard to persuade Australia not to send troops to help the United States in any conflict over the Republic of China (Taiwan), Mr. Chen said.

China has sought to influence Australia's government through high-level political visits and favorable trade and by offering contracts on energy-related products. The goal is to force Australia to become part of a China-dominated "grand neighboring region" in Asia and to "force a wedge between the U.S. and Australia," he said.

The U.S. government has a close intelligence relationship with Australia and has been working to build stronger military ties, as the Pentagon shifts its global strategy toward Asia with the planned deployment of more arms in the western Pacific region to counter a Chinese military buildup.

...

On China's military buildup, Mr. Chen said Beijing is following the strategy of former leader Deng Xiaoping, who urged China to "bide our time, build our capabilities" -- military as well as economic and political. "What that means is that when the day is mature, the Chinese government will strike back," he said.

Mr. Chen said the danger of a war over Taiwan is growing.

"That is possible as Chinese society is getting more unstable," he said. "Once any serious civil disobedience occurs, the government may call for a war across the Taiwan Strait to gather [political] strength from people."

Thought I was alarmist eh? Not hardly. Why is it, then, that we continue to treat the Chinese as if they are our friends? We'll be caught with our pants down, I'm afraid, when they decide that they have a statistical chance of invading Taiwain and sinking the 7th Fleet before reinforcements can arrive.

Red Storm

This is disturbing news. The world thinks that the most evil major power on earth is better than the land of the free? I am truly surprised that people in Britain and france view iron-fisted communist dictatorship more favorably than transparent democracy and individual liberty.

Poll: China Image Scores Better Than U.S.
By WILL LESTER
Associated Press Writer
June 23, 2005, 4:26 PM EDT

WASHINGTON -- The United States' popularity in many countries -- including longtime allies in Europe -- is lagging behind even communist China.

The image of the U.S. slipped sharply in 2003, after the invasion of Iraq, and two years later has shown few signs of rebounding either in Western Europe or the Muslim world, an international poll found.

"The U.S. image has improved slightly, but is still broadly negative," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. "It's amazing when you see the European public rating the United States so poorly, especially in comparison with China."

In Britain, which prides itself on its "special relationship" with Washington, almost two-thirds of Britons, 65 percent, saw China favorably, compared with 55 percent who held a positive view of the United States. In France, 58 percent had an upbeat view of China, compared with 43 percent who felt that way about the U.S. The results were nearly the same in Spain and the Netherlands, the Pew polling found.

The United States' favorability rating was lowest among three Muslim nations that are also U.S. allies -- Turkey, Pakistan and Jordan -- where only about one-fifth of those polled viewed the U.S. in a positive light. Only Indonesia and Poland viewed the U.S. more positively than China.

"Clearly, with or without this poll we know we have a public diplomacy challenge, and that challenge is not lessening by the day," said State Department spokesman Adam Ereli.

He said the United States is trying to combat that image problem, citing the frequent travels of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was ending a six-day swing through the Middle East and Europe on Thursday.

The poll found suspicion and wariness of the United States in many countries where people question the war in Iraq and are growing leery of the U.S.-led war on terror.

"The Iraq war has left an enduring impression on the minds of people around the world in ways that make them very suspicious of U.S. intentions and makes the effort to win hearts and minds far more difficult," said Shibley Telhami, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Support for the U.S.-led war on terror has dipped in European countries like Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Spain, while it remains low in the Muslim countries surveyed, such as Jordan, Pakistan and Turkey.

"The position of the United States as the one surviving superpower is to be assertive in responding in a world of terrorism. But in the rest of the world, there is a great wariness about that," said John Danforth, a former Republican senator from Missouri and a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

The poll found a positive reaction in European countries to President Bush's campaign for more democracy in countries around the world. People in Muslim countries were wary of the U.S. campaign, but supportive of the idea of democracy in their own countries.

Let's hope the poll was intentionally skewed for ideological reasons. But I suspect the results would have been much different if Taiwan and Japan were included in the poll. In fact, I bet many countries won't feel so emotionally attached to China when it becomes a global power. It really isn't a surprise that people living in theocracies in the middle east would feel more comfortable with China as the hegemon. After all, they're already used to being under the thumb of their governments.

I'm starting a new category with this post. I studied China and the east Asian nations intensively when I was at Boston U. I firmly believe that the clash of civilizations isn't with the Muslim Arabic nations like Samuel Huntington does. I have thought for quite some time that conflict with China is inevitable. I intend to start posting more about the looming great power rivalry that will shape the 21st Century in this new category called Red Storm. So, there it is.