IS RED CHINA MORE LIKE THE PHILIPPINES UNDER MARCOS THAN THE SOVIET UNION UNDER ANDROPOV?
This is an extraordinarily unsound perspective. South Korea and the Philippines have, throughout recent decades, been friends of the United States of America, whereas Communist China has declared us to be its main enemy. The issue is only partially related to Red China’s authoritarianism. The key question for U.S. decisionmakers must be: Does our policy help Communist China pose a greater or lesser threat to U.S. vital interests? Free market totalitarianism is not the answer. Wolfowitz is wrong in presupposing that Communist China is not an ideological rival. Mr. Wolfowitz’s thinking gives us a pretty good clue of the theoretical rationale for the pro-Red China policy now being contemplated by the prospective Bush administration. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
