Is China a Military Threat?

"What does China want?" is the increasingly anxious question posed by diplomats and world leaders. In recent decades, China has transformed itself with a great leap forward in both economic growth and military modernization. However, the country lags in the observance of human rights; dissidents are routinely jailed, and China leads the world in politically motivated executions. Produced by the Center for Defense Information, this video is a clear, unbiased look at how China has emerged from the self-imposed isolation of the Cultural Revolution to take its place at the table of nations as an economic superpower and potential military threat. The program outlines China's turbulent history over the past century, and America's shifting response as ally or enemy, pointing out that the U.S. now embraces a "one China" policy, protecting the integrity of Taiwan while recognizing the mainland as the true representative of the Chinese people. Now that Hong Kong and Macao have been returned to the mainland's control, the Chinese government has vowed to take over the "last renegade province" of Taiwan, by force if necessary (China also knows war would carry military risks and grave diplomatic consequences). China watchers and government officials weigh in here on the role China is likely to play in the new century, while also looking at America's policy of "strategic ambiguity" (a high stakes game of playing one country off another), which has preserved the peace for now. Still, as the video is likely to be quickly outdated by events, this is recommended primarily for academic collections. An optional purchase elsewhere. Aud: C, P. (S. Rees)