China can also count on a lot of expatriate expertise - "the motherland needs you". For example, many Indians left and made it big in the States (co-founder of Sun is indian etc.), now that the Indian government has decided to support the local IT industry, it has been much easier to lure back some of this expertise. The added bonus being that an expat can make much more money back home where there are real opportunities, than abroad. This all depends on the local bureacracy of course, but I have been hearing over the radio more and more stories of expats leaving the US/West and setting up sucessful businesses in China. Plus, as far as I know, I think there are certain basic minima on banking transparency/responsiblity that have to be met before being allowed to join the WTO. Either way, we will know within the next decade or so whether China has "made it".
Have you seen this?:
N. Korea's Neighbors Unmoved By Threats
VRN
People are used to N. Korean antics. A majority feels that it is like the last time, a lot of noise, but no real disaster. On top of that, the younger generation of S. Korea who thinks that N. Koreans are just misunderstood friends believe that, even if there is a shooting war, N. Korea won't attack S. Korea. They think that the fireworks will be only against Americans and Japanese. I find such an attitude worrisome. Especially, S. Korean navy boats had a shootout with encroaching N. Korean navy boats last June, taking many casualties.
China is being rushed. There may be some banking requirements. But I think that they are more about guaranteeing the ownership of money and the freedom to the flow of money. Bank integrity is another question especially when everybody is convinced that China is hot. Deficiencies can be overlooked. That was true even in America and Japan. This is one of the most common phenomenon in capitalist systems. Getting into such bubble mentality when their economy is just taking off is not really good.