And thats why China is investing massive amounts of money into railroads and the socalled new silk-road. It knows it cannot match the USA yet in terms of naval power, but it does not want to be entirely dependend on sea lanes.
My friend, you must study China in and out. You see we Japanese have a very strong , in grained understanding of Chinese psyche / Chinese psychology because we think similarly with them , we know them very well (afterall Japanese came from what is mainland China). Throughout China's 5 millennial history , they have never been an expansionist or exterminationist civilization. China , as a civilization, is not draconian in nature, they are and were an agricultural - based civilization, and relatively peaceful. The only wars China have had was the wars to integrate the Chinese princely states and to form the precursor of a unified China, the Qin Dynasty. Chinese have a saying , which direclty influences their civili society from the grassroots level to the national entity level -- This is what they call
Tian Xia Wei Gong --
"All is Equal Under Heaven", which is the paradigm of Harmony (which we Japanese also hold quite dear).
China is not a religious society, she has never been a expansionist power rather, they have been largely economical in nature. Even during the height of their most glorious Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese explored the world and mapped the seas under the leadership of their famed admiral Zheng He, but they were not interventionist, rather, they did so to have an understanding of the world in relation to their Middle Kingdom.
Trade, Political Stability, Harmony, ORDER --- this is a trait of Confucian Civilization. And that cultural trait reflects on China, in a greater philosophical schema.
And thats why China is investing massive amounts of money into railroads and the socalled new silk-road. It knows it cannot match the USA yet in terms of naval power, but it does not want to be entirely dependend on sea lanes.
The Great Silk Road will ultimately connect the untapped markets of Central, West Asia, with the market of China and , ASEAN, and to an extent the maritime silk road with Japan. This is economic-based political rapprochement , my friend.