The military-to-military aspect of U.S. relations with China has lagged behind progress in other areas and falls short of what the leaders of both countries have said they want, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today, reports AFPS’ John D. Banusiewicz.

Shortly before arriving in Singapore to attend the “Shangri-La Dialogue” Asia security conference, Gates told reporters traveling with him that he had hoped to visit China while he was in the region, but that Chinese officials said it isn’t a good time.

He said he’d heard rumors for weeks that the potential visit wasn’t going to happen, but that he’d waited for formal word from the Chinese during the recent security and economic dialogue before the trip was removed from plans for his itinerary.

“I did not want to take a step that made it look like I was cancelling the visit,” he said, “and so I waited until we got something more official from the Chinese side.”

Gates said he believes a more-open dialogue with the Chinese about military modernization programs and about the two nations’ strategic views of the world would be constructive.

“We have had such a dialogue with Russia for over 30 years,” he said, “and I think it helps to prevent miscalculations and misunderstandings and creates opportunities for cooperation. So I’m disappointed that the [People’s Liberation Army] leadership has not seen the same potential benefits from this kind of a military-to-military relationship as their own leadership and the United States seem to think would be of benefit. So we’ll just wait and see.”

Asked whether he believes China is trying to make a point about U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, Gates pointed out that those arms sales have been going on for 30 years and were part of the process toward normalization of relations between the two countries.

“Central to our ability to go forward with normalization in 1979,” he said, “was the passage of the Taiwan Relations Act, which mandated that the United States maintain the defenses of Taiwan, and we have sold weapons to Taiwan ever since.

“This is not new news to the Chinese,” he continued. “And the sales under the Bush administration and under the Obama administration in both cases were carefully calibrated to keep them on the defensive side. So it depends on whether the Chinese want to make a big deal of it or not, but the reality is these arms sales go back to the beginning of the relationship, and were one of the conditions that came through the Congress as part of the normalization process.”

Gates said the arms sales have not inhibited development of the political and economic relationships between the United States and China.

“If they want to single out the military side of the relationship as the place where they want to play this out, then so be it,” the secretary said. “But it has not impeded the development of the relationship in other areas.”

Gates noted that President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao have advocated a “sustainable and reliable” relationship between their nations’ militaries.

“I think they mean a relationship that doesn’t move in fits and starts and isn’t affected by every change in the political weather,” he said, “and that’s where I would like to see this relationship go.”

The secretary said he believes the People’s Liberation Army could do more to advance its military-to-military relationship with the United States.

“I would just express it as my opinion that the PLA is significantly less interested in developing this relationship than the political leadership in the country,” he said.

The Defense Department’s FY 2010 Supplemental Budget Request calls for 33 billion dollars, most of it for operations in Afghanistan.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates says it’s too early to tell whether President Obama’s new way forward in Afghanistan is working.

Commander, U.S. Pacific Command Admiral Robert Willard says, although the U.S. remains the pre-eminent power in the Asia-Pacific, China’s rising influence is creating new challenges.

The U.S. and the Republic of Korea recently completed the ”Key Resolve/Foal Eagle 2010” training exercise.

The U.S. and Russia have reached an agreement on cutting nuclear arms.

A group of ”Wounded Warriors” is on a therapeutic bike ride across Texas.

General Ray Odierno spoke about progress in Iraq Tuesday at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington, DC.

Operation Moshtarak is into its fifth day in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand Province.

USS Nimitz pulled into Hong Kong Wednesday despite reports that China might prevent the port call over differences with the U.S. on arms sales to Taiwan.

Some news and rumors circulating within the Beltway:

• Former first lady Laura Bush has joined The Salvation Army’s National Advisory Board, a group of civic, philanthropic, and business leaders who help the organization in a variety of matters including strategic planning.

Bush, who has attended her first board meeting in San Antonio, Texas, is a longtime supporter of The Salvation Army’s charitable works   and served as the keynote speaker during the Army’s 2007 National Advisory Organizations Conference in Dallas.

“We are honored that Mrs. Bush will be joining The Salvation Army’s National Advisory Board to help serve The Salvation Army in its mission nationally,” said Board Chairman Rob Pace.

“Mrs. Bush’s experience, compassion and leadership will be an asset for the organization, and we look forward to working with her for years to come.”

• China has rejected Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s criticism of its Internet censorship, saying it “damages China-U.S. relations.”

Clinton said on Thursday that in the last year there has been a “spike in threats to the free flow of information,” and cited China among the countries that are restricting Internet access and erecting other electronic barriers.

Ma Zhaoxu, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, said on Friday: “We firmly oppose such talk, which runs counter to the facts and damages China-U.S. relations.”

Ma urged the U.S. to “respect each others’ core interests and concerns, and handle issues of disagreement and sensitive issues in an appropriate manner, in order to guarantee the stable development of China-U.S. relations,” the Financial Times reported.

Harsher words came from The Global Times, a Communist Party mouthpiece, which stated that China would not be “victimized by information imperialism.”

• Some people are betting newly elected Senator Scott Brown could have a future in an even higher office.

Several days before the election, the rights to the domain name ScottBrownforPresident.com were purchased, The Hill newspaper reported.

On Tuesday, the day Republican Brown won a stunning victory in Massachusetts, someone acquired the domain names ScottBrown2012 and ScottBrown2016.

A Tuesday night posting on CraigsList.org stated: “Need a great web designer to volunteer their services to create a website to help elect Scott Brown for president in 2012. Only conservatives need apply . . . I own 2 superstar domain names.”

Source: Newsmax

I think we all know all about this so-called “climate summit” that’s taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark. You know, the one where climate change propaganda will be the discourse of the day. And also the meeting of contradictions.

You’re probably wondering what I mean by “contradiction”. By that, I am referring to the huge “carbon footprint” that the participants at the meeting will  leave in Copenhagen. Stuff such as:

• 1,200+ limousines in the city alone.
• 140 extra jets expected at the city’s largest airport. For those who cannot park at the local airport, they will have to fly off to regional airports or even Sweden, returning to Copenhagen to pick up their VIP passengers.

And even the food is a contradiction; the masses will dine on such foodstuffs such as scallops, foie gras and sculpted caviar wedges- presumably all sustainable.

And of course, besides the meeting participants, there are the Hollyweird celebrities who will be present, as well. Expected are: Leonardo DiCaprio, Daryl Hannah, Helena Christensen, Archbishop Desmond Tutu (why?), Prince Charles and countless others. On the flip side, Republican senator Jim Inhofe will be there for what is described as an anti-climate change “truth squad”. The protesters haven’t been forgotten, either.

The Danish government have set aside one million kroner ($199,202.21 USD) to give the protesters KlimaForum, a “parallel conference” at a local sports centre. Officials are of the hope that the protesters will work off their energy on the climbing wall, swimming pools and bowling alley. But just in case they want to actually protest, the government has a water-cannon, along with additional police powers. Then there’s the prison (formerly a brewery) where the protesters would call home after their arrest, which would have 360 cages which would house up to 4,000 detainees.

Look folks, this meeting is nothing more than a “dog-and-pony show” as nothing concrete will actually take place. Unless you consider their grand propsal of reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050 as something of substance. By and large, this meeting is more of a “statement of intent” than any actual binding agreements getting signed.

So what can one expect to be discussed at this meeting? Probably depends on who is doing the actual talking, but I would suspect that the recent skewed climate numbers and those hacked and damning emails will be among the topics discussed. Again, this is the dog-and-pony show that I speak of. And by the way, President Obama will attend the summit during its latter stages (after all, he has a Nobel Peace Prize to pick up). I’m not exactly sure why his presence at the summit will actually be productive as China and the U.S. will not come to any agreement in reference to climate change. After all, it is common knowledge that China is one of the heaviest polluters on the planet, especially compared to us.

So if you’re into contradictions, then Copenhagen is the place for you. But if you’re like me and believe that this “global warming” is nothing but a scam, then you’ll discover (if you haven’t already done so) that these meetings are an exercise in futility. There’s better places to get your self-importance fix.

A look at the new military pay raise.

Gunmen storm a guest house used by U.N. staff, killing at least a dozen people.

Officials announced the successful completion of an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense intercept flight test.

An update on the recent missile defense test.

The U.S. and China reaffirm a commitment made this past April.

Military officials say low visability caused a MH-47 helicopter crash Monday in northwestern Afghanistan.

Our country is on the Path of Unsustainable Debt.

Experts and average people alike worry that the United States is headed for second rate status as a world power because we are “mortgaged” to the hilt to foreign creditors. One recent USA Today analysis found that our real federal debt amounted to more than $500,000 per American household. Much of the true federal (American taxpayer) debt is not even commonly tallied–such as more than $32 trillion in pending Social Security obligations. In addition to its other advantages, the FairTax is the easiest, simplest and best way to expose the true cost of government in every purchase –leading to voter awareness that will restrain politician’s penchant for spending money we don’t have.

Never before has the world seen its richest and most powerful nation so deeply in debt to even the poorest of countries. It is bad enough that we owe a trillion dollars to China, but we even owe money to Botswana!

Today there are few politicians from either political party who can resist the easy reelection strategy of promising and legislating more and more spending. More worrisome is the fact that for many in the voting public, such spending seems divorced from our own earnings. The idea that government spending must eventually come from our own paychecks is obscured because our taxes are largely hidden from sight through payroll withholding and payroll taxes. Thus, many celebrate the refund of a few hundred dollars after April 15th but overlook the fact their refund is but a tiny piece of the thousands of dollars that have been withheld from their paychecks throughout the year. What we are actually doing is making a big interest free loan to our government throughout the year.

Few members of the public would agree that the lucrative industry that has grown up around the tax code justifies the damage to our economy caused by the income tax system. It’s a really attractive system for a very small population of both Republicans and Democrats in Washington, D.C. and a really bad deal for all the rest of us. Love of power over the tax system and the profits derived from those close to the inner workings of these Congressional committees unite both Democrats and Republicans in Washington–and makes clear the distance between what is good for these few and what is good for the nation.

Because our taxes become obvious with every purchase under the FairTax–instead of hidden from us in payroll taxes–we will all begin to see the true cost of the federal government every time we shop. It’s right there on every receipt instead of hidden from us through payroll withholding. Many believe that when we finally “connect” the cost of the federal government with what comes out of our personal spending, a far different attitude about vote-buying spending promises will make “earmarks” like the “bridge to nowhere” a thing of the past. Families well understand that incurring debt beyond one’s ability to pay is a dangerous path. The FairTax makes obvious how much our government costs us, making unchecked government spending recognized as equally irresponsible and makes it far less acceptable to the American public. The FairTax is the most direct path to healing our nation’s finances.