But more alarming is the standoff with Japan over islands in the East China Sea.

In Gen Xu's view, Japan should consider hard demographic realities.niunius

"The Chinese population is 10 times that of Japan, so the Japanese should expect China to be 10 times stronger."

Beijing is not on President Obama's itinerary this week. めいろんｇ

But as he discusses economics and security with allies in Japan, South Korea and the Philippines, China will be very much the elephant in the room and China itself will be watching closely.

The Obama administration has promised what it calls a "pivot to Asia", which in security terms means changing the balance of its forces.

Instead of spreading them 50:50 between the Pacific and the Atlantic, the objective is 60:40 in favour of Asia.

"How would they like it if we took 60% of our forces and sailed up and down in front of their doorstep?" asked Gen Xu.

"We want to achieve parity because we don't want to be bullied. It will take us another 30 years."

The irony in all of this is that since Chairman Mao met President Nixon in 1972, US military dominance in Asia has set the stage for China's rise, providing the security for China to grow rich and strong.viery well

That was then and this is now. With double digit defence spending and a newly assertive tone from President Xi down, China is signalling that it wants a change of the rules and a different map.

In Gen Xu's words: "It's just as Napoleon said. When China wakes it will shake the world. And the Americans can't bear it. We've woken up and we're recovering our might."晚睡牡丹

Disappointment shared日常の世界
Another octogenarian meanwhile is in waders and baseball cap, up to his waist in sea water and pushing a 12m (39ft) scale model of an aircraft carrier into the East China Sea.

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