Two words for this thread:
DOUBLE STANDARDS!
Number one: True, they do use dual-use technology. Their arms industry have made leaps because of this ,however many of the technology they have acquired are not up to par with the US. The GPS signals used for their smart weapons are Civilian grade GPS signals.
If you think China will become a military superpower, think again. Compared to the weapons of their neighbors (Japan or South Korea), the majority of their equipment are not impressive. That is why they are spending billions in replacing the old equipment that have been salvaged, recycled, and re-used until today. Due to the chaotic situation of the Cultural Revolution, the PLA budget have been seriously limited during the early 70's and 80's.
This is obvious for most nations. If a nation becomes more wealthy, so will the military establishment.
Better economy, better guns.
Number two: China uses soft power to gain influence around the world. Unlike the US who still supports regime-change through ideology such as spreading Democracy around the world, it appears the Chinese are more concerned about establishing better trade ties. The authors can pounce China all they want about Latin America and Africa's ties with China, in fact the Global South prefers Chinese loans rather than the IMF World Bank's loans. The IMF has preconditions and conditions AKA Austerity Plans that have already created serious damages to the Global South's social progress as well as their domestic economy. Jamaica is the prime example of the IMF's failure.
Speaking of Quasi-alliances, China does not support in establishing a bloc of its own. They consider blocs an obsolescent Cold War security institution, according to their strategic thought.
Number three: Why does China censors information and the internet? Its because of GLOBALIZATION. Globalization and the internet has no respect for territorial boundaries. The problems with Globalization is that it is western-dominated: socially, culturally, politically, and ideologically. If these ideas have flood into China today without certain restrictions, it creates social and political instability. The Tiananmen Square Massacre is a prime example of this effect.
China is not the only nation in the world that censors the internet intensively. Egypt and Turkey are also known to jail journalists, bloggers, and censors the net because of political dissent. Combining China and Internet Censorship in the same sentence is discriminatory.
Either way, the eastern mentality follows up to the Hobbesian perspective.
Number four: Democracy and Nationalism leads to war.
http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/POLSYS.ART.HTM
With a population of 1.3 Billion people, there is a large portion of those who want to greet Japan in the battlefield and to reclaim Taiwan quick. If China wishes to develop peacefully, it needs a mechanism to suppress this sentiment. That mechanism is one party rule led by a rational leadership.
In terms of Chinese Foreign Policy, China does not follow the Liberal idealogy or any western idealogy. Instead it appears there are traditional and indeginous models that shapes its policies.
To best describe Chinese Politicians, they appear to be neo-realists.
Notable neo-Realists:
Hobbes
Machiavelli
Kenneth Waltz
Fareed Zakaria
Notable realists in office:
Henry Kissinger
Brent Screwcoft
The problem with these two articles is that they contain liberal bias. In fact many of you who claim yourselves to be Conservatives and viciously attack leftists have the either confused about which is which or have turned the ideologies upside down.
