Bravo! US Reporter Bluntly Asks Chinese General Questions About Military And Chinese Intentions

Foreign Policy writer and blogger Josh Rogin was respectful but direct in challenging the rosy scenario that the United States and China have been trying to create concerning the U.S.-Chinese strategic dance in the Pacific. The scene was the International Institute for Strategic Studies annual Shangri-La Security Dialogue in Singapore. His honest questioning led one Chinese delegate to ask for details about this “rude American reporter.” As Rogin accurately points out, Chinese Defense Minister General Liang Guanglie and other Chinese officials have echoed “the script established by Defense Secretary Robert Gates” that relations are fine and that China simply wants “friendship and partnership” with its neighbors. (Countries like Vietnam, Taiwan, and the Philippines certain don’t see it that way.) You can find his report here, along with a video of the exchange, as well as a follow-on piece about the entire meeting here.