>the Chinese are childish and inane
I've no doubt that among a nation of 1.3 billion there are more than a handful of 'childish and inane' people but the ones I've interacted with are anything but. They tend to be rather smart and very hard working.
We're making the same mistake with China that we made with Japan. We used to dismiss Japanese products as inferior knockoffs, products of people good at copying but unable to innovate. Some of their early products like cars and motorcycles were a bit weird to our eyes but they very rapidly improved to the point where I don't think anyone regards Japanese products as lacking quality or innovation these days. So, instead of running down Chinese because they look a bit different or have a different cultural background try to think of them as "like Japan but ten times bigger". The also border Russia, a relatively small nation that has vast physical and intellectual resources. Now you can try the Cold War approach -- "Claws of the Panda" sort of thing -- but I think that's going to be too little, too late. We have a formidable competitor on our hands (and if you know your history you'll know that this isn't a particularly new problem -- read up on the background to the Opium Wars). I suggest we meet them as equals and work our collective tails off to compete with them -- because we really don't have any other choice.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
