The recent standoff over the spy plane that crashed into a Chinese jet near the island of Hianan is strikingly reminiscent of the cold war. Yet, upon closer inspection, one can see that the Soviet Union is vastly different from modern China, and in fact, more dangerous to the United States precisely because of its weaknesses. To begin, let s face the facts.
China is a third world country.
The country is going through a massive transition from an agrarian-based society to an industrialized one. For centuries, China has feared the might of the West, and with recent events like the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Kosovo and the upcoming sale of weapons to Taiwan, China s military is extremely unstable and is scurrying to modernize. Their modernization methods include a new type of warfare termed asymmetric warfare , in which ones army looks at low-tech ways to fight modern armies. All of these factors combined leave China in a state of precarious balance. With the Anti-American sentiment as a factor, we can readily predict the dangers of a militaristic action from China in the near future.