Cyber Warfare as Payback

OVER THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS the united states and china have been dealing with yet another disagreement, in a long history of such. The united states claims that the chinese are computer hackers, using hacking techniques to steal secrets form american corporations, disrupting american websites, and even barging into military computers and stealing top sceret information.

Unsurprisingly, the chinese deny the accusations.. The situation is rather vague. The americans know its happening, but are not sure whether the crime is bieng committed by the chinese government, or elements within the country but not associated with the government. They suspect the former. The chinese also know its happening, but usually either claim that they know nothing about it, or that the culprit is a rogue organization unknown to beijing.

Either way, at last president obama and the chinese premier are going to get together, face to face, and talk about it. Also on the agenda are other economic and trade issues, north korea, iran, and syria. There is potential for productive action to result, and also the ever present possibility that nothing will occur other than an exchange of grandiose rhetoric.

If cyber warfare is the worst crime china has ever committed against the united states, america is indeed fortunate. China sent forces into korea during the korean war, and snatched a stalemate from the jaws of american victory, which adheres to this day, and sent help to north viet nam during america's invasion of that country, which contributed to american defeat.

ON the other side of the coin; after the american civil war, the united states, in developing the wild west, brought in tens of thousands of chinese laborers, then abused them, often killing them. Resentment over the influx of non white non christian chinese spread all across america, and in 1882, and again in 1902, congress passed chinese exclusion acts, prohibiting further chinese immigation to america; this, after america had brought the chinese workers  here in the first place. All over the country, chinese people in america were tortured, murdered, and massacred, in yet another of america's many shameful episodes of racism.

Meanwhile, england, led by the biggest drug dealer in history, queen victoria, and amrican east coast millionaires were illegally dealing opium in china, addicting millions of chinese, and sucking the chinese economy dry.

Beginning around the turn of the twentieth century, the U.S., under the war mongering racist imperialistic leadership of teddy roosevelt, encouraged japan to dominate china in order to "civilize" it. This the japanese did, or tried to do, beginning in 1931, leading to world war two in the pacific, and thirty million premature deaths.

So, it works both ways. When all the accounts are added up, it almost seems that china owes the united states a little internet mischief. After all, it isn't as if americans have always treated china with the greatest love and respect.