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The article focuses on issues concerning the United States' decision to sell 150 F-16 fighter aircraft to Taiwan. In an election year, approval for the sale of expensive weapons to Taiwan has a lot to do with U.S. President George Bush's need to win votes at home. But, though some of his reasons may be suspect, Bush is right to show China a warning flag. China used to be able to present itself to the West as the cuddlier sort of communist. But with the only competition now coming from the Cubas, Vietnams and North Koreas, that time is gone. For most of the 1980s China was militarily modest, economically adventurous and engagingly open to the outside world.

Explores how China has skillfully worked its way back from diplomatic isolation in recent months and considers the challenges the country faces in light of a changed world. Impact of the Tiananmen Square events; Effects of shrinking Soviet power on China; US President George Bush's New World Order; Chinese reaction to the new Soviet-American relationship.