There are reports that although little talked about in the West, many Chinese officials have long felt that war between the West and the East is inevitable.
The thinking goes that a rising nation state power as China will always challenge a dominant one as the United States.
Today, the maritime dispute between the U.S. and China has become the most contentious issue in their complex relationship, and conditions seem ripe for a military clash of some nature between the two countries.
This summer the international court ruled on a Philippine challenge to China’s claim to disputed waterways, and for the first time, Beijing appears poised to potentially escalate their military presence and perhaps even send nuclear-armed submarines into the South China Sea.
Per some opinions, the Chinese view the conflict as revolving around China’s emergence as a major nation and regional power and America’s insistence on policing the Pacific.