That leaves individual interpretation of China's strategic calculations; Tellis's is imbued with a highly realist zero-sum framework. He cites the military component of China's strategic interests as being 'preventive', 'protective' and 'defensive' in nature. Though these terms are fairly accurate, they only support the claim applied to specifically defined goals, which he concurs are, in the near term, 'to defeat any US expeditionary force that might be committed in support of [Taiwan]'. From this point, however, he moves to a far more expansive strategy: 'the capabilities thus obtained are intended to mutate gracefully into servicing other, more ambitious geostrategic aims'. In this way Tellis subtly, though assertively, leaps from ascribing to China a defensive posture to one that seeks to challenge and even rival US military power. The literature is not nearly so definitive. Such theorising of China's strategic intent is highly speculative.

Tellis uses a number of examples of American--Soviet competition to support his thesis that China will inevitably seek to confront US military dominance. Meanwhile, he declines to entertain the notion that China's incentives and actions vis-à-vis the United States may be shaped by strategic values and interests outside his framework.

In fact, China's strategic considerations toward the United States are influenced and constrained by factors beyond a direct militarily antagonistic relationship. They range from China's profound domestic development challenges; its precarious geopolitical relations with regional players; and its deep dependence on global commercial and energy markets. China also has a unique set of historical experiences (colonialism, foreign occupation, border wars) as well as the lessons learned from current events, not the least of which is the US quagmire in Iraq. These point to conditions for China and an international environment significantly different than were extant during the Cold War.

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Hagt, Eric. "China's Military Space Stategy: An Exchange -- "Mirror-imaging and Worst-case Scenarios"." Survival. Vol. 50, No.1 (February-March 2008): 157-198. [ 4 quotes ] [ page 165 ]