Despite the hype about the importance of the Chinese market, exports to China are tiny. The same is true of major European traders. China accounts for .5 percent of British exports, about the same level as exports to Sri Lanka and less than those to Malaysia. China takes 1.1 percent of French and German exports, which is the highest in Asia apart from Japan but about par with exports to Portugal. China is also a second-rate military power not first rate, because it is far from capable of taking on America, but not third rate, as are most of its Asian neighbors.
China poses a formidable threat to the likes of the mighty Philippines.
China is in no military shape to take the disputed Senkaku Islands from Japan, which is decently armed. Beijing clearly is a serious menace to Taiwan, but even this most acute security concern on China's front door cannot be resolved by China because the United States stands in its way. Thus, because China challenges Western authority, it matters to some extent. But it does not matter so much that it can't be constrained. Much the same pattern is evident in the challenge China poses to U.S. security.