Home > eNews Article > China Prepares For War

China Prepares for War

from the November 14, 2006 eNews issue
http://www.khouse.org (visit our website for a FREE subscription)

China has long been preparing for a possible military conflict with the United States. Likewise, as the Pentagon tries to prepare the US military for the future, military planners are looking to China as the next potential large-scale threat to the United States. This week US defense officials revealed that a Chinese diesel-powered attack submarine came within firing range of US naval ships without being noticed. According to the Washington Times, a submarine tailed the USS Kitty Hawk undetected, surfacing within five miles of the aircraft carrier before being spotted during surveillance flights.

China has one of the most advanced militaries in the world. In recent years the communist nation has significantly increased military spending. In the past four years China has built 14 new submarines. The Defense Department's 2006 assessment of China's military power cited long-term trends in China's modernization of its strategic forces - including its nuclear capacity and precision-strike weapons. It has developed a host of new weapons, ranging from advanced conventional weapons to more experimental laser-based weapons systems. China also has the largest standing army in the world, with 2.25-million troops.

China's military buildup seems specifically designed to fit a conflict scenario involving US air and naval forces. Arthur Lauder, a professor of international relations at the University of Pennsylvania, said the Chinese military "is the only one being developed anywhere in the world today that is specifically configured to fight the United States of America...no objective reason exists why China, if she stays on her present course, should not eventually pose an even greater threat to the United States and its friends and allies than did the Soviet Union."

For years, Chinese arms sales to rogue nations have been one of the most contentious issues in Sino-US relations. China has been accused of selling nuclear technology to Pakistan and Iran; missile technology to Pakistan, Iran, North Korea, and Libya; materials used to make chemical weapons to Iran; and advanced communications equipment to Iraq, North Korea, and the Taliban when they ruled Afghanistan. China has also sold long-range missiles to Saudi Arabia and has offered to help Saudi Arabia update its weapons program.

Appetite for Foreign Oil

For years China has been primarily self-sufficient in providing for its energy needs, but China's energy independence is over. After years of drilling, China's main oilfields are badly depleted and costs per barrel have crept up steadily. At the same time China's economy is shifting into overdrive. Consumption, business investment and government spending are running at full throttle. China, an oil exporter only a decade ago, has acquired a voracious appetite for foreign oil. In fact, China is now the world's second-largest oil consumer.

China's demand for oil has risen as its economy has grown. According to government statistics, China's imports have grown from about 6 percent of its oil needs a decade ago to roughly one-third today and are forecast to rise to rise to 60 percent by 2020. In the past China has resisted importing foreign oil, but the depletion of their reserves and growing demand has forced them to look outside their borders to meet energy needs. China has already imported substantial amounts of oil from Russia, but it has also reached out to oil-rich nations in the Middle East and Africa.

Over the last few years China has strengthened its ties with the Middle East. Trade between China and the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has increased from $1.5 billion in 1991 to over $35 billion today. The GCC includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The GCC holds 45 percent of the world's oil reserves and accounts for 20 percent of oil production. China has also increased trade with Iran. China has signed deals with Iran worth more than $100 billion.

In North Africa, the war-torn nation of Sudan has become China's largest overseas oil project. China is also Sudan's largest supplier of arms. Chinese-made tanks, fighter planes, bombers, helicopters, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades have intensified Sudan's internal strife. From its seat on the United Nations Security Council, China has been Sudan's chief diplomatic ally. In recent months, the council has attempted to pressure Sudan's predominantly Arab government to protect the African tribes by threatening to sanction its oil sales. However China has used its veto power to stop any Security Council resolutions against Sudan, thus prolonging the cycle of violence in the region.

Sudan is known to have major yet untapped oil reserves, representing a vast amount of potential wealth at a time when crude oil prices have risen dramatically. The China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), owned by the Chinese government, has invested over $300 million in an expansion of Sudan's largest refinery, doubling its output. The refinery now supplies most of Sudan's petroleum needs. The CNPC began oil production at a field in southern Darfur in 2004 and it holds a large share in Sudan's southern oil fields. Another Chinese firm, Sinopec Corp., built a 1,000-mile pipeline from that complex to Port Sudan on the Red Sea, where China's Petroleum Engineering Construction Group has built a tanker terminal. All in all, China buys about two-thirds of Sudan's oil.

Prophetic Significance

In addition to its considerable influence on the international economic and political scene, China is a major player in Biblical prophecy. We find references to their involvement in both Isaiah 49:12 and Revelation 16:12. For more information on China's role in prophecy see our briefing titled The Kings of the East.