unaccountable laborers pose additional risks. Will social unrest and population imbalances destabilize the country? As the authors point out, all these incidents have remained local. In addition, decisions made by the Communist Party of China (CPC) are becoming slightly transparent, which is easing tensions. Through rudimentary checks and balances to combat corruption, including publishing and recording CPC meetings and holding inner-party elections, the CPC is reforming the image it projects.

Internationally, a low-valued yuan and $600 billion of annual foreign direct investment (FDI) have helped China become the fourth largest global trader by volume. Its often-discussed manufacturing sector receives over 50 percent of the FDI invested. Factory workers around the world have become concerned that they will lose their jobs to Chinese factories. In partial response, in mid-2005, officials committed to a revaluation and gradual appreciation of the Chinese currency, with a daily trading band of 0.3 percent per day. The authors point out that any change was effectively mitigated by the stockpiling of international currency in the following six months. However, while manufactures are growing rapidly, the production value from China is only one third of total product value. Will China move into high-end goods? It is possible, but the quality of engineers coming out of university suggests 10 or more years are needed.

China's military has evolved too. In chapter five, the authors discuss China's military and security ambitions and work with neighboring countries to settle border disputes. In line with its "peaceful rise" campaign, it helped establish the Shanghai Cooperation Organization with Central Asia, hosted the six-party talks concerning North Korea, and holds observer status in ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations). Taken from an earlier chapter, China has embarked on 27 bilateral trade agreements. With this in mind, the readers can rightfully develop the impression that China is creating critical, new forums for security dialogue through its economic ties. Regionally, the authors believe its security positioning is best understood as recovering from 19th- and 20th-century humiliations. Thus, the only way to a peaceful future for both countries is to sustain bilateral dialogue to minimize misunderstandings-a lesson sorely needed to be learned in the United States.