That approach has now been discredited. But Bush has been vindicated in his visceral distrust of China. The explanations, rationalizations and excuses for Beijing's behavior seemed inadequate to the circumstances. It was acting in a childish way, throwing a tantrum when a mere diplomatic note would have sufficed. It's not, after all, as if China is not in the spy game itself.
China is too big, too populous and too dynamic to ignore.
But this is the nation that responded to a student demonstration in Tiananmen Square with mass murder. It represses Christian churches and continues its occupation of Tibet. This is a regime that has lately taken to arresting visitors from America of Chinese descent and accusing them of espionage. This is a regime that is not democratic, that is totalitarian, that lies to its own people and whose leadership, while not always unified or coherent, features some very nasty folks. That is the impression most Americans are going to take from this episode.