With all due respect, the last time China ran this sort of trade inbalance with a western nation it was with Britain, and a war started because of it.
True. And it was us started the war - wrongly. Trying to get advantage, through our arrogance in our power.
Just wanted to apologise for any bad tone in that last post - it is late and this worries me a bit more than it should. Not just the new naval strength, but the dismissive tone of some of the posters regarding China’s ability. This isn’t 1970 any more. It is better to overestimate your opponent than to underestimate them.
I have watched China carefully for years, though am no expert. I even speak and read Cantonese (slowly), though Mandarin seems to be beyond me as far as speaking goes - the tonal shifts are a little too subtle for me to catch.
The Chinese have the West firmly by the b*lls at the moment, being the sole producers of 4 or 5 different elements we need. They are not going to rock the boat. Not for quite some time. One thing the Chinese are is very, very patient.