In an online discussion today, the Washington Post's Steven Mufson and John Pomfret, both former Beijing bureau chiefs, discussed their recent article titled "There's a new Red Scare. But is China really so scary?" Some interesting points emerged, with Pomfret stating at one point "For years, Chinese were befuddled that the United States was worried about China.  Now many are actually proud that Americans are concerned about China's rise. It's as if our concerns about their power are validating that power." In the online talk, several questions delved into China's unfair trading practices, poor environmental standards, and unsafe exports: QUESTION: With the remnibi, China seems determined to work against market forces and keep its labor cheap. In a smaller country, I would guess that kind of tinkering would blow up in their faces. Do they think they can pull it off? A.Steven Mufson writes: The United States has a legitimate beef about China's currency. Although China has been gradually increasing the value of its currency, the renminbi is still undervalued and that helps China's exports. But even in an economy China's size that could eventually cause problems. With the economy growing extremely quickly, I think Beijing might let the currency appreciate some more this year. QUESTION: What is the current status of environmental problems in China? How clean is their air and how accessible is clean water throughout the country? A.Steven Mufson writes: China is ground zero for environmental problems. I don't know the current stats, but when I was based in Beijing in the 90s five of the ten most polluted cities in the world were in China. Beijing's sky usually looks pretty milky, and it's not from fog or clouds. Water pollution is also a grave problem. One of the two main reservoirs for Beijing is practically unusuable now. Only about a quarter of industrial waste water nationwide is treated. The list goes on and on. Pollution is one of the biggest threats to the country's economic growth and to people's health there. QUESTION: I've read about many unsafe products from China, including toxic toys and tainted medicines. How real is the possibility of a major health scare due to imported food from China? A.John Pomfret writes: The challenge that China -- and other countries that export to the United States -- pose to us is one that really is our responsibility.  We've got to ensure that the FDA and the Consumer Products Safety Commission do their jobs. It's easy to blame bad Chinese toothpaste or pet food, etc. But at the end of the day its the responsibility of our government to keep the American people safe. QUESTION: In tandem with the U.S. losing manufacturing capacity to China, I'm concerned that we're simultaneously losing key portions of our defense industrial base. As but one example: the U.S. now purchases much of its printed circuitboards from China. We also purchase naval sonabuoys from China, which use these printed circuit boards. How wise is it to become reliant on China for some of our key military technology and components? A.John Pomfret writes: This is a good question.  But my sense is that all important equipment used by the US in the national security arena is either made in the USA or by companies in allied countries -- e.g. the UK, Australia, Japan, etc. ManufactureThis has to differ with Pomfret on the last point-- the issue of the national defense industrial base.  In fact, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) has investigated the issue of Department of Defense reliance on supplies coming from China.   Specifically, in 2007, the USCC noted serious overall concerns (page 291): “We are writing to raise a caution flag about the integrity of the United States defense supply chain and the degree to which it may be dependent on components from China. After three years of hearing about problems related to the potential dependence of the U.S. military supply chain on components or supplies from the People’s Republic of China, we think that the House and Senate Armed Services Committees should conduct classified hearings to determine the extent to which the U.S. armed forces may depend on China to be able to function.”