Whew! Thanks, rhodez. Now maybe I can learn to stop worrying and and love the Chinese.
By the way, China shut off Japan's rare earth supply because Japan seized a Chinese 'fishing boat' that was nosing around some disputed islands claimed by both nations, a matter of import not because of fishing rights but, rather, because of implications for territorial waters and undersea reaources.
Still, I can't help but wonder, given your summary of the geopolitical situation vis-a'-vis the PRC and how ridiculous it is to even imagine that those fine folks would want conflict with the US, why would this beneficent trading partner publicly announce -- in the state-run 'The Global Times', no less -- that it is aggressively seeking to develop anti-carrier weaponry, including anti-ship ballistic missiles with the stated rationale that "Since US aircraft carrier battle groups in the Pacific constitute deterrence against China's strategic interests, China has to possess the capacity to counterbalance."
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/government/is-china-gearing-up-to-start-world-war-iii/9368I mean, the whole Pacific Ocean? That's kind of ominous, right? Not the Taiwan Strait: the whole freakin' Pacific Ocean! You know, where Hawaii is?
You have to wonder, what "strategic interests" are we deterring?
And, since aircraft carriers are our (the US) premier force-projection weapons platform, and we have more than twice as many as the rest of the world combined, it seems a bit silly for them to rattling this sabre at us, But this is the same folks who believe they could survive a massive nuclear exchange.
