[shaggy eel]

China has to be one of the most short-sighted countries in history.

,,, China is moving into the Panama Canal, the Bahamas and Africa, securing minerals and trade routes. It can switch it's factory workers into military uniforms in a flash and have Beijing's population underground in about 20 minutes. Any ideas which foreign country holds the most US Treasury bonds? Don't think I'm a fan of China, it's just that they're watching the US run into major debt over Iraq whilst they're taking US jobs away and using US dollars to work the room quietly in the South Pacific, central America and lots of other places. The crap's going on everywhere and right now, Hong Kong becoming a second Taiwan is probably their only immediate concern.

[Filibuster_60]

Empires built on repression and coercion ultimately don't have that much staying power, however well-armed and economically vibrant. Even the Chicoms probably realize this. Their thinking is definitely more defensive than many of us assume. In their minds we'll always be a bigger threat to them than they could be to us.

Personally I think the Chinese are in fact paralyzed by this crisis - it brings to the forefront the contradictions of their foreign policy goals and exposes their lack of confidence in their ability to resolve something to the world's benefit.