China was allowed into the WTO on their terms. Do you know what that means?
It must be small comfort to put faith and trust in a country that launched the first successful act of aggression against the US on US territory.

For the very same reasons you state that Japan needs US protection, they might decide to cast their lot with China should the US become so over-extended by their war on terror. Plus the Japanese citizens have gone on record with their disgust for the behavior of American soldiers, the government has even taken steps to keep US soldiers segregated from Japanese citizens. Thus they are not allowed to socialize off base. With the protection of the Chinese the cultural divide wont be as great. A little money could make Nanking/Nanjing look like nothing more than a video game.

China would need allies should she decide to mount an offensive, attacking Taiwan would be counter productive. And, South Korea has already expressed a desire for reconciliation, instead of aggression, with the North.

Believing that China has no biological weapons as well as your false sense of bravado makes you more average than you might think. That dumb look on George Bush's face after he was told that the country was under attack was duplicated more than a million times over, accross this country.

So rest well grasshopper, Big brother's watching.