by Ted Sherman

Created on: March 09, 2007   Last Updated: April 19, 2007

China, despite its currently friendly face beamed at the US, is still very much the tightly-controlled Communist state it has been since 1949. It's military works closely with North Korea, and still considers the US a potential enemy. China continues to build up its armed forces, as well as developing intercontental missiles systems that are far more advanced than anything the recently saber-rattling North Korea has.

Much of the so-called new freedom in China is window dressing. The government's adversarial attitude is not something new. During World War II, The US expended huge amounts of American lives, money and weapons to free China from Japanese occupation in the years 1942 to 1945. Then, in 1949, when the US-friendly Chinese Nationalist government collapsed and escaped to Taiwan, America was confronted by an ungrateful and virulently anti-American government of Communist China.

Communist North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, and it certainly wouldn't have dared such a step without enormous quantities of Chinese weapons and "advisors". When North Korea was collapsing into defeat in 1952, a million Chinese "volunteers" crossed the border and turned the war into a bloody stalemate. More than 50,000 US military never went home.

Communist North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam in the early '60s, and joined the Viet Cong guerilla forces to overthrow the US-backed South Vietnamese government. Again the invaders would have never tried the operation without heavy support from Communist China. The US suffered another 50,000 dead and the spending of billions more dollars during a decade of war.

That same China is now wearing a mask of false friendship, but is still waging a subtle war against the US. It's an economic war this time, and in many ways it could become almost as devastating as a military one. With its cheap labor force of half a billion workers, it has virtually taken over the world's market in clothing, toys and, most effectively, electronics. Within a couple of years, it will open a new mighty offensive with a line of cheap cars for import to the US that could finally deliver the death blow to the already severly wounded Ford and General Motors.

We should certainly worry about China's military buid-up, but it isn't the only concern we should have about the enormous Communist nation's plans for us.

Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.