China Real Time spoke with the author, a commissioner of the congressionally appointed U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, former director of the Asian Studies Center of the Heritage Foundation, and a 32-year veteran of the U.S. military. Edited excerpts:
The main theme of your book is China is trying to project power well beyond its borders. What is driving this expanding view of national interests?
China has expanded its military orientation from a focus primarily on the immediate periphery in response to changes in national interest. China has developed economic interests in other regions, including Africa, South Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Strategists in China realized these expanded interests may require a capacity to defend them, as well as the sea and air lines of communication vital to China's trade and need for raw materials and energy resources.
