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You hit the nail on the head. Too many in the U.S. (and this thread) see China as no match to us militarily. I believe that their economic moves are entirely based on gaining economic leverage on us so that they never need to oppose us militarily. My hope is that the plan may backfire--the more successful they are economically, the more likely the people of China will demand more social, economic, and political freedom

Truth be told, that is the US strategy. We're not going to engage China in a conventional war of any kind.

They no more want to lose their biggest market than we can afford to lose the production we rely on from there.

Depends on what their values are or what their real goals are. We cannot continue to make the mistake of assuming everyone is like us or wants the same things. Market shares may matter to Americans but not necessarily to other people at all, certainly not to the same extent. Democracy may matter a great deal to us, but not matter at all to many other peoples. Power and the ability to force one's religion or ideology upon other people may be far more important to many nations than simply making money.