China: The Awakening of a Giant

June, 7th, 1980
“China: a New danger for the free world”
Folha da Tarde

The article starts by quoting Chinese Prime-Minister Hua Guofeng’s address during a visit to Japan, in which he asked Japan to help China neutralize the Soviet threat. However, says the author, Japan’s defense efforts are limited by the 1946 Constitution, so the two countries agreed to cooperate exchanging Japanese technology for Chinese oil. Taking advantage of the limitation in Japan’s rearmament, the USSR refuses to return the Kurila Islands that were annexed in WWII. For the same reason, China and Japan had to find a new way of military cooperation, so the two contries agreed to exchange Japanese technology for Chinese oil.

The article goes on to describe China’s moves in its foreign policy, mentioning a visit by Belgian chief of staff Willy Gontier to China, and the visit of the Chinese PM to Washington. The conversations with Defense Secretary Harold Brown resulted in the sale of US military equipment to China. So the article concludes that China is becoming an new industrial consumer to the USA, but more importantly a potential ally against USSR.

March, 3rd, 1983
“China: The leap into the 20th century”
Folha da Tarde

The second article in the section about China continues to describe the developments in China’s foreign policy. In 1983, China launched its first permanent communications satellite, which would make it possible for China to perform espionage missions and improve communications within and among Chinese military posts.

Besides notable advancements in Chinese military technology, such as intercontinental ballistic missiles and atomic and hydrogen bombs, it is important to consider that US-China relations have started to deteriorate since the beginning of the Reagan administration, although the relations with USSR remain tense. The conclusion is that military forces no longer have a defensive character in China, which remains under constant pressure of its demographic growth.