China, US heading for cold war: Most Chinese feel Sunday Times, London, 8 February 2010, 01:50am More than half of Chinese people questioned in a poll believe China and America are heading for a new "cold war". The finding came after battles over Taiwan, Tibet, trade, climate change, internet freedom and human rights which have poisoned relations in the three months since President Barack Obama made a visit to Beijing. According to diplomatic sources, a rancorous post-mortem is under way inside the US government, led by officials who think the president was badly advised on China and was made to appear soft on China. Almost 55% of those questioned for Global Times, a state-run newspaper, agree that "a cold war will break out between the US and China". An independent survey of Chinese-language media for the Sunday Times has found army and navy officers predicting a military showdown and political leaders calling for China to sell more arms to America's foes. The trigger for their fury was Obama's decision to sell ã4 billion worth of weapons to Taiwan, the thriving democratic island that has ruled itself since 1949. "We should retaliate with an eye for an eye and sell arms to Iran, North Korea, Syria, Cuba and Venezuela," declared Liu Menxiong, a member of the Chinese people's political consultative conference. Officially, China has reacted by threatening sanctions against American companies selling arms to Taiwan and cancelling military visits. But there are a few voices urging caution on Chinese public opinion. "China will look unreal if it behaves aggressively and competes for global leadership," wrote Wang Yusheng, a retired diplomat, in the China Daily. He warned that China was not as rich or as powerful as America or Japan and therefore such a move could be "hazardous".
Nothing too earth shattering, IMO. China and the US have been ramping up a cold war now for a few years.
China, US heading for cold war: Most Chinese feel Maybe we should go ahead and default on our debt the Chinese are holding now. Just to give us an early edge in the cold war.
"Two toughest kids on the block, I guess...Sooner or later they gonna fight" (Power's Boothe when asked why WWIII started between the US and the USSR in the movie "Red Dawn")
Actually you can go decades with the two tough kids, picking on weak opponents. That tends to work out a little better for both sides, IMO (unless you're the weakling country that gets it's but kicked...lol)
I bears mentioning here that Japan is also quietly arming up, in response to China's military buildup. Any confrontation with China will not just be with the USA , but also with Japan, Taiwan South Korea. I doubt very seriously that China could prevail in war against all four powers.
The whole world would have to band together to beat the Chinese, and that isn't likely to happen. The Chinese are way too smart to do that. They'll wait for another decade or two before they begin dictating terms to us.