Interesting: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-op-mead30dec30,0,1035099.story

Who puts these numbers out? The CIA ?

I would have been more impressed with those numbers if they had factored in the amount the Chinese are spending in foreign nations, such as the varied African countries in which they have a presence. It would be interesting to see what percentage of the Chinese GDP that is not going to military spending is going to foreign aid projects and programs, and then contrast that with the percentage going to the social welfare of the Chinese themselves.

Exactly. This does not even account for invisible earnings. The biggest part of Britain's wealth for two centuries were the massive invisible earnings from shipping, finance, banking and foreign investments, indeed while British manufacturing slugged and was eventually taken over by Germany and the US by 1900, Britain was still the wealthiest country during the First World War, financing the Allied war effort and liquidating billions of foreign financial assets for allied subsidies.

China I imagine is very much in the same position, especially with its shockingly high investment in the developing economies of Africa and South America.

Besides that, I think if anything this article highlights the desperation, fear and paranoia exhibited by the percieved US decline and trillion dollar trade deficits that, if not actual, nevertheless show the true rather wicked feelings of America in regards to foreign prosperity and growth.

A Bi-polar world is knocking - you can't hide forever.