CIA director: China is not an 'inevitable enemy'

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/30/
cia.director.challenges/index.html

Though I agree with the CIA director that China is not an inevitable enemy, one must also, to be realistic see China as a very unwieldy nation. China is a very rare nation on the world scene. It is the largest nation ever to remain the same nation and culture for so long on earth. It is historically 5000 years old as a civilization and as a single nation. Even though the Chinese borders have enlarged during some dynasties and shrunk during others, it has remained largely the same nation culturally for 5000 years. So that 3000 years before Christ China as a culture existed.

Another odd fact is that China, because of being so big has always been unwieldy to govern. It is just as unwieldy to rule today than ever before. In fact it might be more unwieldy now because of all the fast pace of change within China. China is struggling to save itself before it destroys itself. I believe to some degree it has always been like this in China since its beginning 5000 years ago.

As of 2007 the population of china was: 1,321,851,888 (July 2007 est.)
When one considers that only about 300 million of these people are enjoying a similar life to people in Europe or the United States one begins to grasp the problems in China. If the US was like China it would be like 69 million people living the life we live now and the rest of the people very poor third world people who were uneducated with 1/3 of them with TB. So this would be like 69 million in the US with their present standard of living and 231 million living in the US like poor uneducated third world people. Then imagine 100 million uneducated Americans living in poverty with TB(1/4 of these are drug resistant strains). This is the only way Americans could begin to imagine what China is really like for those who live there.

Because of all this almost anything can and will happen there. Can the government maintain the peace? This is unknown. Maybe. Possibly. However, unrest from all the
1 billion disenfranchised is growing in China daily. If those 1 billion unhappy people ever join together against the government almost anything could happen. The future is a complete unknown. However, with 5000 years of culture behind them they probably will find some way to work it all out because of 5000 years of tradition.

What this will mean in real terms to the US and Europe and the rest of the world no one really knows. The best any of us can do is guess.