Intent on becoming another superpower, the People's Republic of China is expanding in almost every possible direction—its space program, Asia in general, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. Chinese tentacles are everywhere! China has fairly recently pulled ahead of Germany to become the world's top exporter (The Daily Telegraph, Oct. 25, 2007).

China is also using its economic power to rapidly increase its military. According to Time (Oct. 1, 2007), "veiled threats from China" against Taiwan continue—perhaps laying the groundwork for possible direct intervention at a future time when the United States has been weakened or is too preoccupied elsewhere. (A bright spot is that Hong Kong continues to actively pressure China to implement its promised democratic reforms.)

And then there is North Korea. Despite agreements with the United States and the first commercial freight train to cross the border with South Korea in decades, it seems Pyongyang is still playing games with America. Does this regime possess nuclear weapons, or does it not? Why does North Korea transfer nuclear know-how to rogue regimes like Iran and Syria (where Israel recently took out what was apparently a nuclear facility under construction)?

Japan is understandably wary of North Korean intentions. It is, therefore, taking further steps to normalize its relations with China. The Financial Times reported that " Japan and China announced their first cabinet-level forum on closer business cooperation, highlighting the warmer political ties between Asia's two largest economies after years of strain" (Nov. 21, 2007).