America's Future Update on China

Update on Trade with China

Communist China will be the chief beneficiary of the proposed NAFTA Superhighway. The plan is to bypass our Pacific ports and offload Chinese goods in supersized containers at the port of Lazaro Cardenas on the west coast of southern Mexico, which is controlled by Hutchison Whampoa, the same giant Hong Kong shipping firm that owns the ports at both ends of the Panama Canal. The containers full of Chinese goods will then be carried by Kansas City Southern Railway de Mexico directly to Kansas City, MO, where they will be distributed east, west and north. Meanwhile, a contract has already been signed to permit a Spanish company to build a 12-lane limited access toll road through Texas. Only then will the cargos get their first customs inspection.

When the NAFTA Superhighway is completed, Mexican trucks will be able to drive up the fast lanes of the toll road, bringing Chinese goods in sealed cargo containers directly to what will be called the "port" of Kansas City, MO. Only then will the cargos get their first customs inspection.

Update on Chinese Espionage

A Chinese-Canadian engineer was charged in December with stealing trade secrets from a California company that made military training software and trying to sell them to Asian governments. Xiaodong Sheldon Meng, a Chinese national with Canadian citizenship, was indicted on 36 felony counts, including the rare charge of economic espionage to benefit a foreign government plus various violations of military technology export laws. Prosecutors said Meng stole the code for software made by his former employer, Quantum3D Inc. (a high tech company in San Jose, CA) which is used to train military fighter pilots, and that Meng tried to sell it to the Royal Thai Air Force, the Royal Malaysian Air Force and a company with ties to China's military. The news report does not mention Meng's immigration status, but Quantum3D Inc. is known to have applied for H-1B visas to import foreign engineers.

U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan said this case highlights the threat U.S. businesses face from thieves looking to sell U.S. intellectual property overseas. Associated Press, 12-14-06

Update on Chinese Military Threat

Communist China hailed the development of its Jian-10 fighter jet, aircraft engines, and air-to-air missiles as signs that it has soared into the top levels of aerospace military technology. The manager of China Aviation Industry Corp., Geng Ruguang, said that China "has become the world's fourth country that is capable of developing on its own advanced fighter planes, engines and missiles." (He didn't say how much of the technology had been stolen from the U.S.) China plans to produce 300 Jian-10s. London Telegraph, 9-28-06

U.S. Navy officials confirmed on Nov. 13 that an aircraft carrier battle group failed to detect a Chinese diesel-powered attack submarine that surfaced within weapons range of the USS Kitty Hawk. The sub was armed with wake-homing torpedoes and anti-ship cruise missiles. Some U.S. officials said this was a provocative action by the Chinese military in preparation for a possible future conflict over Taiwan. Our China analysts appeared to be stunned that China would shadow a U.S. carrier as far away as Okinawa. Washington Times, 11-20-06