[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Japan Says China Aimed Military Radar at Ship
For those living in the region, what do you see as the likely trajectory of this conflict? What happens if they start shooting at each other?

'Accidental war may disrupt China's progress'

Beijing (Feb 5, Tue): A top People's Liberation Army (PLA) general said China should do its utmost to safeguard the hard-won, peaceful environment it had secured for its own development, giving a rare glimpse into the top brass' thinking amid tense territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas.

"It is the final minute of the race," said General Liu Yuan, political commissar of the People's Liberation Army's General Logistics Department, in a reference to the country's past 180 years of history, when efforts to revive the country's economy were repeatedly destroyed by wars.

"We should not be interrupted by accidental [warfare] again," the official Global Times quoted Gen Liu as saying on Monday. "What the Americans and the Japanese fear is that we will catch up with them, which is why they exhaust every possible means to suppress China's development. We should not fall into their trap."

In an attempt to justify his argument that China should be patient and swallow any possible insult until the day it was strong enough to fight back, Gen Liu recited several classic strategies.

These included paramount leader Deng Xiaoping's "keep a low profile, never take the lead and bide your time"; King of Yue kingdom Gou Jian's "sleep on firewood and taste the gall bladder to remind himself of the bitter taste of defeat and to reaffirm his desire for revenge"; and the legendary general of the Han dynasty (206BC-220AD) Han Xin's "shame of crawling through between someone's legs".

Gen Liu said that while it is important to maintain a strategic peaceful period in order to ensure long-term peace, China should not shy away from taking military action when it is warranted.

"Still, to the nation, [war] is the last option," he said.

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

Emphasis mine. My guess? There probably won't be a shooting war. But China won't be playing nice either, not when the country's honour is at stake.