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Arms Sales to China: Are They Worth It?
| Article
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11297 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
5 / 1986 |
958 Words |
| Author
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John F. Copper
John F. Copper is the Stanley J. Buckman Distinguished
Professor of International Studies at Rhodes College in
Memphis, Tennessee. |
The Reagan administration recently proposed the sale of $550 million in avionics to China to upgrade that country's air force fleet of F-8 fighter planes to have all-weather capabilities. The logic behind the sale is simple: Improved U.S.-China relations will put pressure on the Soviet Union to act more accommodatingly with regard to issues of mutual interest and less belligerently in the international arena.
In at least three ways, however, the deal doesn't make sense. First, the underlying presumption of this argument is that better relations with a stronger China (which then can be parlayed into the "China card") will induce the Soviet Union to behave more moderately and rationally and to seek improved ties with the United States. The end result would be, not surprisingly, a more peaceful world.
It is questionable what effect the sale will have on Moscow however, inasmuch as the notion of Chinese fighter planes with all-weather capabilities isn't something that will worry the Kremlin very much. They could be used against Soviet forces attacking at night with similar planes, but that isn't likely.
If the planes were used by China to attack the Soviet Union (which they certainly could be) it might provoke a much more serious conflict between the two than the United States considers to be in this nation's interest. While the United States might avoid being drawn into a nuclear slugfest between China and the Soviet Union, the jet stream would see to it that much of the radioactive fallout from the Asian continent would be carried to the United States. (When China conducted some of its nuclear tests radioactive fallout blew over the
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