They clearly are building up for a confrontation with us. One featuring surprise, asymmetry and clearly, despite all wishful thinking aside...likely on our home soil.
Remember China's PLA-controlled Hutchinson Whampoa taking over both ends of the Panama Canal...and bribing the Panamanians to do it and ignore a superior U.S. bid? Then deploying a rather large quantity...over 10,000... of their "civilians" to these bases. But Colin Powell went down in 2001 and reportedly still sees "no threat." Wow. That places him at direct odds with the assessment of the late Admiral Thomas Moorer, and General Singlaub.
Doesn't that just warm your heart knowing Powell has been so recently our Secretary of State and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.... Keep in mind he was the one who went down to Panama to scope out how dangerous the Chinese were with their bases there and pronounced those concerns "without merit." Keep in mind Powell was rather badly snookered by France going into the Iraq war. Who else has snookered him?
H'mmmm.
This brings to mind that sage observation by Mark Twain:
"The 13th stroke of the clock is not only false of itself, but casts exceedingly grave reservations on the accuracy of the preceding 12!"
People in govt. lose their integrity and principles pretty damn fast when a job with a seven-figure salary and benefits befitting a corporate officer are waved under their nose. I have no doubt that any company that does business with the Chinese or is Chinese-owned is doing this successfully with our govt. officials. To hell with doing what is right, I wanna get rich and retire in 10 years. Money has a way of blurring the realities and the big war will happen after these guys are dead anyway.
Of course, they could still have a series of "accidents" with their submarines that take them out of play. :)