At the moment, China is on a roll, and it is not about to spoil things for itself by aggressively building its military might solely for aggression and/or war with the US. To be sure, China realises it is very vulnerable. For example, a nuke fallout, or biotoxins released, on its water system will put lots of Chinese out of commission in a jiffy!
By the way, China has no history of having been a colonising power. In the past, it did occupy some lands adjoining its borders but not for long. For example, during the Sino-Indian War, China attacked and captured Arunchal Pradesh and Ladakh (disputed territories wherein the residents look more like Chinese than Indian) in early October 1962 and left by 20th November 1962 after announcing a ceasefire unilaterally.
Yes, China is constantly strengthening its military. But it is doing this primarily for defense. For years, Rumsfeld, the former US Secretary of Defense, used to harp on China's military huge expenditures (despite the absence of any threat) to such an extent that it seemed he wanted to stigmatize China as a potentially dangerous enemy. In a BBC announcement, a Chinese ambassador retorted by pointing out that the US military budget alone exceeds by far the combined military budgets of the rest of the world and, as the population of China dwarfs that of the US by a factor of about 5, the per capita military spending in China is much less than that in the US! In what seemed to be a message aimed at Rumsfeld and the US, the Chinese Ambassador shouted into the mike, "Shut up! If Taiwan declares independence, we will attack! We have no choice." This, to me, means that China is building up its military muscle to prevent Taiwan from being emboldened enough by the US to declare independence. Ever since that Amassador's announcement, there were no more gratuitous criticisms from Rumsfeld right up to the time he was removed from office (ostensibly, I believe, as he still occupies an office in the Pentagon, according to Nancy Pelosi).
By the way, unconfirmed reports stated that China now has laser weapons that could blind enemy satellites, missiles that could shoot down enemy satellites and sonic torpedoes to convert enemy aircraft carriers into "floating graveyards".
Of course, the US could upgrade its weapons systems, too. But that is going to cost so much the US could only afford to do so at the expense of so many other urgent needs like health care and social security & etc. & etc and the war in Iraq (and a possible war with Iran). And don't forget what has happened to the US$ recently. Bad news for the US, eh?
To be sure, the next major war, if ever there will be one, is going to be a computerised war --- a war in which computer viruses will play no small part to disrupt communications. Is there a role for foot soldiers? Any ideas, anyone?
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