Chinese Dragon Awakens

A Special Report out of the Washington Times. Here are parts one and two. One point that stands out (at least to me):

"'The combination of a vibrant centralized economy, growing military and increasingly fervent nationalism has transformed China into what many defense officials view as a fascist state.
'We may be seeing in China the first true fascist society on the model of Nazi Germany, where you have this incredible resource base in a commercial economy with strong nationalism, which the military was able to reach into and ramp up incredible production," a senior defense official said.'"

If true, these are indeed ominous signs for the future. It seems the questions one must ask now are 1) Should [or can] the United States defend Taiwan? I think we have to, though our military resources need to be expanded before then, and the potential role of Japan as an ally should not be discounted. 2) What of the Russians? They fear a Chinese grab for the Siberian oil reserves. Is this a point to begin discussing with Putin? 3) What would be the US defense strategy in the event of a Chinese attack on Taiwan? Cutting off oil supplies from the Middle East is an option, and I am not all that fearful of their attack submarine capabilities against the Seventh Fleet (or any others). But their nuclear options are significant. Speaking of which...4) What about North Korea, the crazy uncle in the attic? Such a scenario in Asia needs as few wild cards as possible, and no card is wilder than Kim Jung-Il.

I would be interested in any comments on this, as a broader discussion is indeed warranted. Also, if anyone has recommendations on sources to use to look into these issues, please send them on or post the links. Thanks.