How to Check China

China is apparently acting out a role as a regional bully: it stakes claims to large tracts of Indian territory; contests ownership of the Spratly isles with the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, and even tiny Brunei. Its latest shenanigans include claiming sovereignty over Senkaku islands held by Japan. China threatened an Indian naval vessel in the South China Sea. And now, save for Cambodia among the ASEAN countries, the rest are seeking to present a united front against China in resolving claims in the South China Sea. The USA’s military policy and diplomacy now seems directed only against China, a step that the Chinese are secretly proud off, since they have replaced the former Soviet Union and current Russia as the most dangerous nation for USA, a designation and title that gives the Chinese prominence and attention, which they have craved for over a century. China simply likes to be regarded with fear in the world, quite contrary to any modern preferred psychological philosophy.