Currently, there is no balance of world power. The United States is a hegemonic state in the international system and, inherently, the system is unstable. Russia provided the balance of power during the cold war but with its decline, the world system is lacking the bipolarity it needs to create a sound structure. China would have to do much to provide an adequate military, economic, and political counterweight because these three elements are not mutually exclusive. The state's military prowess means little without developing the other two elements.

China is not our enemy. We should fear its growing military power no more than we should fear the military of Britain or France. China seeks to develop itself internally with plentiful construction projects. It lends huge amounts of money to the USA. Its people regard us as friendly, and we should treat them as returning friends who are enjoying the fruits of non-belligerance.

I feel a lot safer with China as an additional superpower to curb US aggression. When you compare the record of both countries, the Chinese are much less likely to start wars and intrude on the affairs of other countries. China's rising influence in South America and the Carribean is helping to bring about real social change in an area of the world that has been an abject failure under US control for decades.

China's growing military power is inevitable. Asia, the west, and particularly the US, will have to accept it. I think it was Napolean Bonaparte who said "Let China sleep, when she awakes the whole world will know it." Indeed, it is happening before our very eyes.

The lesson of Vietnam is when an opponent is willing to take 10 casualties for every one they inflict on you, unless the war is on your soil, you will ultimately lose. If China wants Taiwan, and is willing to make that trade, they will win. Second, and most important, 25 percent of US imports come from China. The cold hard fact is that the United States electorate is not willing to wreck the economy over who governs an island off the coast of China. China is patient, and that’s the worst kind of enemy there is.

An old friend of mine who fought in Korea once said, “They won’t need boats or planes when the Chinese want to liberate Taiwan. They’ll just build a bridge out of the first wave of soldiers they send to liberate the island."

The economic boom being experienced in China also coincides with increased freedom for a population that has had an abnormally low expectation for personal liberties. Because of that, economic strengthening is certainly something that we should applaud. There is an obvious downside to their militarization, however. China's military is using their newfound strength to expand their influence and coerce their neighbors (and support North Korea). They also have a history of using their military to subjugate their own citizens and to bully surrounding countries. Also, the unsettling surplus of men in their country could lead to a major source of instability in the region. For more insights, read the works of Valerie Hudson (A professor of political science at BYU), who discusses the implications of the male surplus in some rather unsettling terms.

American hubris – "We're top dog and we're not gonna back down" – will do us in with the Chinese. They are a smart, clever, mission-oriented, patient people. Their leaders come from the front line rather than the halls of Ivy. They intimately know what they're about. Fifty years ago a history teacher told us that world power moves west. Well, there it is!

For years, China has "crept in on little cat's feet," going around bans on exportating high tech systems of information and defense. As the US has walked away from non-proliferation treaties, and continues to support Taiwan, why wouldn't China have a major interest in expanding their military as well as their economic clout? Wake up world. China wil be one of the world's next superpowers whether we like it or not.

If the US is not careful with the way it handles diplomacy in Asia, and with the way China's military is expanding now, the US is in serious trouble. It cannot afford to continue to let China's military go unwatched, at least for the sake of US allies such as S. Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Australia.

The rise of China is inevitable. The US may feel that containment of China is the best policy, but it isn't the most effective one. In order to counter China's growing military strength, the US must focus on maintaining its scientific, technological, and economic power.

China’s modernizing and expanding military could be used both positively and negatively. China could just be constructing a great-power military that is primarily used for homeland defense. This could be comparable to both the United States and the Soviet Union because both expanded their militaries significantly during the Cold War, with no conflict between them. The idea of positive military uses could be applied in peacekeeping and peacemaking missions, allowing a large number of Chinese troops to assist in UN-backed missions. However, China could use its military for aggression.

It is no secret that many believe there is an imminent military threat posed by a growing China. Would China actually use its military in its foreign policy at the expense of its booming economy? A rational actor would say no. But then again, China is a communist nation with deep interests and respect for its sovereignty and security. It will most likely pursue any means necessary to fulfill its foreign policy objectives.

How could we have expected otherwise? As China gains in economic strength, they will convert that economic strength to military strength. Why should they do otherwise? The United States has given them a model, and every reason to emulate that model. Have we ever used our wealth and power to pursue peaceful means to a better world? Have we ever shown respect and appreciation for such an approach to international diplomacy? Have we shown by any action that we value the ability of nations to cooperate and respect one another's way of life? What consideration do we have a right to respect from any other nation as it becomes more powerful?

China means to be a world leader, and its military programs are only one part of an overall strategy to attain this goal. It is making equal gains in the areas of trade agreements to establish a future market for oil and gas – take a look at the increase in Chinese agreements in Latin America over the past five years, for example. While the US trumpets its technological superiority to the world, the Chinese are quietly building the base on which they can and will compete successfully with the US for world leadership. Meanwhile, US hubris is driving wedges between us and those we need alliances with to sustain our leadership.

Boy, they sure do have an obsession with Taiwan. (sigh) Well, they're going to be a problem then, especially if they are not afraid to contaminate the earth with nuclear fallout (which they fail to realize they have to live with too.) Sad, it's the 21st century and we still have countries that want to "rule the world" while the US still tries to police it and keep everybody free. Go figure...

China and India, with roughly half of the world population, are the coming superpowers of this century. Europe and the US will be progressively reduced to middle-size powers whether they like it or not.

The only option or, so to say, only hope to tame China is by going the Russian way, which means ending communism and beginning democracy in that country. The US and Europeon Union should be more vocal and open in their support of democratic forces in China. They should also come more strongly in support of Tibet which currently seems a lost cause. Military expansionism has been a foreign policy of communist China and we have already seen the case of Tibet and intimidation caused to Taiwan for so-called greater China policy.

If the US and European Union fail to wake up, I am afraid we may see a bitter confrontation in the future. At this time it is easy to say "All is well as economic relations are well." Economy cannot solve problems that are basically political in nature.

Many of the US's best friends were former enemies. It took a war to become friends with Germany and Japan, a cold war to become friends with Russia. If we fear China because of inevitable advancement in technology, it's about time we learned to understand and like the Chinese. Love is always the ultimate solution for governments as well as individuals.

It is most important that the US understand how China sees its own nation interests, and frame our foreign policy so that the Chinese understand we are not a threat to them. Disaster will surely follow from misunderstandings. If we allow US corporate interests to continue to dictate our foreign policy, conflicts are more likely to arise. Traditionally, China has thought of itself as the "middle kingdom" with Asia as its primary sphere of influence. We would be wise to respect that long-held sentiment.

Yet another military power is not what this world needs. It is too bad that China is adopting Western thinking along with Western military technology. I am disappointed in Beijing.

I'm worried. The handwriting has been on the wall for some time. The irony is that it is our offshoring, deficits and greed that have financed their military spending. We have created the monster we will meet down the road.

This is a nation that, more than most other developing nations in the post-colonial era, has had to pick itself up by its bootstraps. It didn't enjoy many of the economic and political benefits given to the nations that were part of the US or USSR political spheres. This is a nation that has had to learn, by force of a tragic history, that she can rely on no one but her own national strength to preserve the interests and national security of her people.