China: December 16, 2002

Archives

One positive thing to come out of the September 11 attacks was an opportunity for the US and China to patch up their relationship. Over the last year, the two countries have developed closer relations than have been seen since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. China and the US have restored close military and anti-terrorism relationships. The dispute over Taiwan has been pushed into the background and China has toned down the nationalist, "we will go to war with America and win" rhetoric that has been so popular since the 1990s. Moreover, China has not tried to build up its armed forces in a big way. Partly because they noted how the Soviet Union bankrupted itself in an arms race with the US, but mainly because they are waiting for new technology that will revolutionize warfare, China has kept its military spending low.  

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contribute. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   contribute   Close