December 16, 2002

One positive thing to come out of the September 11 attacks was an opportunity for the US and China to patch up their relationship. Over the last year, the two countries have developed closer relations than have been seen since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. China and the US have restored close military and anti-terrorism relationships. The dispute over Taiwan has been pushed into the background and China has toned down the nationalist, "we will go to war with America and win" rhetoric that has been so popular since the 1990s. Moreover, China has not tried to build up its armed forces in a big way. Partly because they noted how the Soviet Union bankrupted itself in an arms race with the US, but mainly because they are waiting for new technology that will revolutionize warfare, China has kept its military spending low.