The Rising Asian Giant

What's China got to do with your life? Where it hits close to home, try gas prices. The ascending power of the Chinese economy demands Gargantuan resources for energy. Their draw on the world's oil resources has a correlation to higher prices at our local pumps.

The US-Chinese trade relationship continues to deepen but the prospects of a rising China, along with its authoritarian communist government, raise concern among ordinary Americans. China continues to score poorly in the yearly State Department human rights assessments around the globe. And while there seems to be no immediate threat to its security, China is building up its military, buying arms at a large and expansive scale.

From a report today from CNSNews.com titled, US-China Differences Go Way Beyond Protocol for Hu's Visit, by Patrick Goodenough, posted at the Crosswalk.com website, the following excerpts:

Eager to expand sources of energy supplies to feed its galloping economy, Beijing is pursuing ever closer ties with countries in the Middle East, Latin America and Africa, some of which - such as Sudan and Venezuela - have problematic relations with the U.S.

"Chinese policies are endangering U.S. goals by supporting African dictatorships, hindering economic development, and exacerbating conflicts and human rights abuses in troubled countries such as Sudan and Zimbabwe,"

Read the whole report.