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Is China the benign emerging market with limited regional aspirations that Beijing is so anxious to portray? Or is it an increasingly powerful, assertive economic and strategic force that will increasingly challenge Europe, America and Asian neighbors?

The West has a long history of crying wolf about China, beginning with the 19th century Yellow Peril scare. More recently fears of China reflect European and US self-doubt about their ability to maintain the current standard of living in the face of Chinese competition. Anxiety is also driven by neoconservative need to have an enemy to mobilize public support for US defense spending and continuation of American global hegemonic influence. Moreover, such fears ignore China's daunting development needs, including hundreds of...