It will lessen its hold on some things and tighten them on others. The logical tactic is to deny them their external enemy. W should state that this incident was a misunderstanding, and that the world will organized as spheres of influence. W will then announce that the U.S. military will be vacating East Asia in the near future. It isn t just the Klingon and Vulcan values to be considered, but the Ferengi as well.
China is a huge trade partner.
I suspect a lot of W s campaign financing came from folks with financial interest in maintaining China as a major trade partner. I suspect the Chinese doves consider this significant as well. Mind you, yours is a decent approach to avoiding a superpower conflict, and superpower conflicts should be avoided, but the question is whether their military or economic leaders will lead the Chinese. I see China as a remnant Agricultural Age autocratic military culture, struggling to avoid the nigh on irresistible drift into the Industrial Age. Flowing with the times would require their politicians yielding power to the People and the financial community.