The damage China could bring to the world would be much greater than what imperial Japan did during World War II, a former US Pentagon official told the Taipei Times.
Chuck DeVore, who served in the Pentagon during the Reagan era, told the Taipei Times that the China threat would become ever greater because Americans generally underestimate China's military capabilities.
DeVore is one of the authors of recently published China Attacks, a novel he co-authored with China specialist Steven W. Mosher.
The Chinese-language edition of the book was published last week in Taipei and is the most recent English book on simulated Chinese attacks on Taiwan.
In a synopsis of the book, the two writers say it "was written for two purposes: to entertain and to inform" and that "the first [purpose] enables the book to reach a larger audience for its second purpose."
"China will be a competitor of the US whether we [Americans] believe it so today or not -- the question is, will China be a peaceful and democratic competitor or will China be controlled by an unelected communist elite who will seek to use China's growing wealth and power, not for the betterment of the Chinese people, but for the glory of the leadership in Beijing," DeVore said.
"China sees itself as a threat to America. World War II Japan had some 3 percent of America's steel production, less than half of our population size and a land base the size of California -- still they managed to do a significant amount of damage," he says. "China, on the other hand, produces more steel than the US, has five times our population and a roughly equal landmass."
DeVore sees the threat from China as twofold, both military and political. For him, the threat from China is real and imminent.
"China has many military capabilities that we Americans underrate. Many of these capabilities are due to China's willingness to take risks that we view as unacceptable," DeVore said. "The willingness to take risks can lead to surprise and surprise can lead to victory."
He expressed worries about the political situation in Taiwan, saying the government has become divided because of the opposition parities' efforts to "frustrate the government of President Chen Shui-bian (
"The opposition wants to win above anything else -- this is leading some in the opposition to meet with the mainland in an attempt to isolate Chen and the DPP. This is a very dangerous policy," DeVore warned.
"The nearest historical equivalent I can find to it is the activities of the Austrian national socialist party from 1934 to 1938. When Hitler's Germany moved to absorb Austria in 1938, the pro-German elements there made the invasion virtually bloodless and swift," he said.
"The opposition may want to win at all costs -- they need to ask themselves, what is Beijing's goal? Why are the mainlanders meeting with us?"
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