China's primary threat is not the United States, or any other foreign power, but internal disorder. There are more angry people in China every day, and the government knows that this could blossom into widespread uprisings. It has happened so many times before in Chinese history.Bay goes on to note labor unrest and general internal disorder, corruption, the expansion of communications beyond the ability of the government to control, ethnic minorities, pollution and water shortages, too few women of marriage age, and an aging population as the sources of unrest and danger to the regime.
Which makes me wonder why the Chinese have become so strident lately.
It would be interesting if the Chinese decided that foreign threats are actually their salvation from the real threats within. When the alternative is revolution, a war that you might or might not lose looks relatively appealing and far less of the curse you'd normally think it would be.
