China persists in underwriting America's instant-gratification lifestyle by exporting cheap consumer goods to the United States while financing a substantial part of the U.S. national debt by buying hundreds of billions of dollars of U.S. Treasury notes. On the other hand, China is regularly portrayed by U.S. hardliners as the next great threat. In its continuing enthusiasm for buying Treasury notes, China underwrites the further development of America's new high-tech way of war. This is distinctly odd behavior for a nation that is presumed to be preparing for a High Noon confrontation with the United States. China is intent on integrating itself into the global economic system- strange behavior indeed for a nation that is regularly depicted as a military threat to the United States and, by extension, the West.

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Moore, Mike. "A New Cold War?." SAIS Review. XXVI, No. 1 (Winter-Spring 2006): 175-188. [ 7 quotes ] [ page 184 ]