Maybe. China is definitely not our friends, but its also important to note that they are not cracking down as hard on christianity as they were (which isn't to say they're making nice with christians. They aren't). Furthermore, they have a lot to lose by going to war. Germany as able to import the raw materials they needed to fight the war overland for the most part, making it naval blockade of only limited utility. China cannot do this. They must control the sea in order for their economy, and by extension, their war machine to function. And they can't. Their navy barely qualifies as a bad joke. India's navy could whup China's navy. Enforce a blockade around their ports and shipping lanes with fast attack submarines, and their economy would strangle itself to death within a matter of weeks. If they want to go nuclear, then when we're done, Chinese civilization won't exist.
Understanding of China in the west is not advanced by not taking him seriously.
I use the word "him" deliberately. China is not a her. China is a growing, strong potential adversary - one with a history of military study 20 times longer than our country has even existed. A nation of fighters. Of competitors. Of people who have learned to be quite tough, by the circumstances they have been surrounded by.
While we argue amongst ourselves here, to try to keep the welfare mentality from completely destroying our ability to work, produce and innovate - China has methodically been dismantling the "iron rice bowl" of state handouts, slowly teaching 1.2 billion people how to (compete with America).
Remember the Asian students you went to college with. Now ponder for a moment that just the Chinese component of that situation outnumber Americans by approximately 5 to 1. The population under 30 in China, is larger than our entire country - retirees and all.
Remember next the fact: Chinese want boy babies. Baby girls are still at risk their first few days. Resulting in an excess population of young males who - won't have a wife. A HUGE excess population of young males. Who are approaching peak potential military age, as the Chinese economy continues to gain momentum.
Combine that 50 million or so unmarried guys, a massive and growing cash surplus measuring in the hundreds of trillions of US dollars, a historical chip the size of Nanjing - and the last thing anyone should do, is waving off China's potential for good (or for bad) so dismissively.
We had better take China seriously. They take us seriously, and have been studying us for a long, long time.
The last thing we should do, is look at China and not recognize that the trends between our nations - financial, military, educational, demographic - all seem to be pointing (clearly, in the opinion of this poster) toward potentially difficult times ahead.