Really, Gpit, I sometimes become disappointed to see that China's foreign policies appearing naive immature and incompetent.
One is China's public relations policy. I cannot imagine, such a big rising country would have such worst kind PR. The hostiles bash China and China appears to be always submissive and apologetic and yes defensive, always giving explanations at least as far as India is concerned. China never says anything that might offend India and any predictions about war, but look at India, always talking about war which is nothing but threatening.
China's International media, oh my god!...
that old govt pattern objective reporting. Emotionless gesture less feeling-less as if it is dying. Indian media once deliberately spread one lie that Chinese border patrols intruded into Indian territory and painted China on small rocks. But that so called territory is not disputed and not yet demarcated. Border patrols of both sides visit them temporarily. That means Chinese border patrols as well as Indian border patrols, both visit them routinely depending on changing seasons. Chinese media remained silent. No words. The world thought the silence is admission.
Also the Chinese border patrols never painted
China on the rocks.
China's foreign diplomacy seems inferior to that of US. Only its US' jingoist aggressive war policies that have given some advantages to China. But look at India's foreign diplomacy, how it manages to go up the ladder by diplomacy. In case of India, China is acting like China has suddenly discovered India, but Indian story is not new.
I became pissed off by China's such fantastic vision, when the leadership declared the defense budget. So, China wants to be a global treasure without sufficient security. But economy and defense are substitutes for each other. As a bank needs security measures to resist robbers, a rising country needs defense to resist any invasion. But the leadership is saying China will rise economically, but will remain militarily defensive. PLA Colonel Dai Xu said in his book China cannot escape the calamity of war, and this calamity may come in the not-too-distant future, at most in 10 to 20 years, but the leadership declared such a poor defense budget.
Now, you see this South China sea issue will become a permanent headache for China, as it seems. Then Japan is there and now India, God knows, why it is preparing for a war... Just tell me, preparing for war, is it a normal gesture?