When the USS Ronald Reagan Meets the Mao Zedong on the High Seas

South Korea’s Chosen has a piece on the growing competition between the United States and China in the Pacific and the role played by aircraft carriers. Beyond the military balance, there is interesting symbolism here. Joining the US Pacific Fleet in 2011 will be the USS Ronald Reagan. And it is very possible that the Reagan will eventually be squaring off against a Chinese carrier that rumors indicate is likely to be named the Mao Zedong. Chosun columnist Joo Yong-joong concludes: “We may soon see aircraft carriers named after former U.S. and Chinese leaders competing in our seas. That prospect is anything but comforting.”

Military competition is not comforting. But if a head-to-head competition takes place, the easy money is on the USS Ronald Reagan. Not just because it will have superior firepower and technology, but because the Reagan name and “brand” should utterly destroy the Mao “brand” in any ideological battle. Naming their aircraft carrier after Mao might be seen as an act of national pride on the part of China, but let us not forget that Mao was a butcher who killed tens of millions of his own people. He killed more people than Hitler and Stalin combined. For his part, Reagan helped to liberate an entire continent of people from the grips of communism. So if the Chinese government wants the Mao to sail for a foreign port to “show the flag,” let them. And we should have someone at port side to remind people that Mao was a mass murderer, who embraced a murderous ideology that is still revered by many in the Chinese leadership today.

Reagan vs. Mao? Competition on the high seas? Bring it on!