Yes, there is still a lot of the cold-war crap. But I do believe that we almost have convinced the Chinese that our current military focus in the Pacific aimed at the continued subjugation of Japan and not at containing China. Sounds laughable I know. But America's presence has prevented arms races between Japan and China.

Unfortunately, Bush has done nothing to maintain relationship with China. Even Clinton, who (presumably) personally ordered the attack on the Chinese embassy in Serbia, did a much better job at maintaining the relationship and setting both countries on a course of cooperation.

Sonofa wrote "For those who think China wouldn't endanger their own economy, consider that they're surrounded by several nuclear powers, several powers with million-man armed forces, and several powers which either are or look to possibly become militarily hostile. Their economy is a secondary interest to them. Their military and political security comes first."

One of the jobs of every government is to ensure the sovereignty of its nation. China's security concerns (and its concerns over Taiwan ) are legitimate from this perspective and are not unique. But its security and sovereignty concerns are not what worries the Communist Party leadership. The leadership is concerned that poor peasants in the countryside - feeling aggrieved because either (a)their land has been taken away by corrupt government officials and developers or (b)their land has been poisoned by industrial waste, or (c) just pissed that they are poor and city people are rich - will cut down bamboo stalks, sharpen them into light, flexible spears, and then put said spears into the bellies of the local leadership. The Party is also concerned that massive amounts of under-employed people in the state-industry rust belt areas start rioting and will eventually riot if things get any more hopeless for them. They are concerned that some day Shanghainese people stop even pretending to pay attention to the government. They are concerned that soon, as the result of the One-Child Policy, there will be more retirees than workers, and they better have a great pile of surplus cash on hand and a social security system when that happens. In short, there are many potential cracks in the wall of China's stability, and most of these cracks are dependant on economic factors.

To put it simply, the only way the Communist Part can stay in power is for them to provide continuous growth to China while addressing the problems growth causes. They have done an OK job at this so far, but the bigger challenges are still ahead. They would not endanger their own economy over security issues because economic growth ensures that the Party can stay in power.

I was the only one to leave a letter to that last article about Foxconn you sited. And I'll say it again...they suck. The worst of Taiwanese attitudes there. And its in Guangzhou, where labor laws are not observed as well as in other parts. The Dongguan area (and suburbs of Shenzhen) seems to be China’s sweatshop. Why is this? I do not know. As I said before, I’m in Suzhou. I sell managerial consulting services to companies here. And no foreign or Taiwanese company would dare mistreat workers here. There is just too much potential for liability.

And BTW, Foxconn most probably manufacturers most HP computers...they were deeply integrated into Compaq's production when HP bought that company.

This being said, Foxconn is actually small time compared to the big US manufacturers (Solectron, Flextronics, Samnina, etc). That is, small time in terms of profit, respectability, and technical skill. I do not believe that those large US manufacturers operate without social responsibility. It just opens them up to political risk in China and abroad.

Cao Cao also said “The lives of men are limited, so drink your wine and sing your song.” Carpe Diem. Although Chinese people think this is a negative attitude.

The captain of Firefly cursed OK in Chinese. That navigator guy (who sadly died in the movie) couldn’t say anything right.

And the main online games Chinese people are playing in web-bars now (besides World of Warcraft and Lineage 2), are simple dance games and games that involve lots of chat.

This is wrong. 27 pounds is roughly $50 USD. Which is 400 RMB. NO factory in Dongguan can pay so little for full time, 40 hour weeks work. This is totally wrong. A factory worker in a State-Owned company in the interior of China makes more than this now. In Shenzhen area, they would not keep the worker more than a week at that salary.

I agree with everything everyone has said here. Right on. Except Busy Bodies claim about mass-transit. Mass-transit in Shanghai is bad. The trains are way too overcrowded and the buses inch along in traffic. But he is damn right about the optimism.

But I have to say though…Chinese people are optimistic about their country…but very negative about their government. Americans tend to be optimistic or pessimistic about the government based on how well the economy is doing and other factors such as security, and the price of oil. I don’t think this correlation holds true in Chinese cities.