Below is a brief summary of a People’s Daily commentary discussing who is afraid of "China’s Dream" of a powerful nation:
With the rapid development of China’s economy, the overall increase in its national strength, and the significant increase in its international status, today we have the capital and the ability to talk about the "China Dream." The essence of the "China Dream" is national prosperity, a strong army, national rejuvenation, and a happy people. … However, some in the international community have ulterior motives and are also spreading the "China threat theory.
At the top of the list is the United States. China’s rapid development has made the United States feel extremely uncomfortable. For a long time, the United States has had, as its policy, the comprehensive suppression of China as a political opponent. The U.S. not only has gone to war with China twice; its policy to curb China has never changed in all successive governments. Strategically, the U.S. forms a wide range of alliances; with its full energy, it encourages and supports the activities of the anti-China forces and actively intervenes in a number of China-related matters.
Second on the list is Japan. Currently, Japan regards containing the rise of China as a symbol of its national rise and rejuvenation.
The third is the ASEAN and the neighboring countries. In early April, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel gathered the ASEAN defense ministers in Hawaii for the first time. The U.S. move had the purpose of strengthening the U.S. military presence in the ASEAN region. At the same time, it helped to deepen the ASEAN countries’ psychological wariness of China, so that the U.S. could bind the ASEAN countries together to deal with challenges from the rise of China.
Source: People’s Daily, April 22, 2014
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2014/0422/c1011-24926591.html