While the U.S. military and diplomatic resources remain disproportionally focused on the Middle East (for obvious reasons), China continues to methodically move forward with its long-term objectives. From the front page of the Washington Post this morning:

The Chinese military used a ground-based missile to hit and destroy one of its aging satellites orbiting more than 500 miles in space last week -- a high-stakes test demonstrating China's ability to target regions of space that are home to U.S. spy satellites and space-based missile defense systems. The test of anti-satellite technology is believed to be the first of its kind in two decades by any nation and raised concerns about the vulnerability of U.S. satellites and a possible arms race in space......

The U.S. military is especially dependent on satellites for navigation, communications and missile guidance, while the American economy could also be broadly damaged by disruptions of communications, weather and other satellites. Some in the administration believe that this has left the nation especially vulnerable to attack and have proposed efforts to develop ways to defend its assets in space...

"In my view, the Chinese are sending a strong signal here," said Jeffrey Kueter, president of the George C. Marshall Institute, a nonprofit space and defense think tank in Washington. "They're saying they can hold our space-based, war-fighting capability at risk, and are putting into doubt our ability to challenge them. They're a rising space competitor."

There is no question that China is a competitor of the United States. The real question is how the China-U.S. relationship will mature as China's strength -- both economic and military -- continues to expand. Will the relationship remain more or less friendly or at least a peaceful competition among what will soon be the world's two super powers or will it deteriorate into a more confrontational/adversarial state of affairs?

The growing military threat posed by China is clearly the primary geo-strategic impetus behind the U.S. outreach to India, and to a lesser degree Japan; both of which have been very good, long-term strategic moves by the Bush administration.