Every time I return to China it seems to be drawing closer to the West. Maybe this is just a product of what is being called “globalisation” (“Americanisation” to the more cynical) but I am sure it is not just a case of the West standing still and China doing all the changing. Issues like terrorism, religious fundamentalism and a growing fear of the burgeoning economic power of China are all factors driving a growing threat to the democratic values the West once thought separated us from the East but which we now appear all too eager to abandon in the name of security.

If you want to visit the USA you had better not be caught criticising it in print or on line. China’s media may be centrally regulated but how free are the media in the US, Great Britain or Australia to criticise government policy? You think I am joking? What about the international air passenger who was banned from joining a QANTAS flight to Britain because he was wearing a T-shirt calling the US President, George Bush, a terrorist?

In Australia, in 2006, the Federal Government told non-government organisations which received funding from the government that they would lose that funding if they spoke to the media on issues the government regarded as sensitive. These issues included Australia's role in the war in Iraq, the free trade agreement between Australia and the US and government policy on global warming.

The government-funded broadcaster, the ABC, is governed by an ultra-conservative board of management largely appointed by the government. The ABC may not air material which criticises either the US or the Australian government unless they provide what the government calls "balance" - an alternative program which contradicts it (and effectively cancels it out).

For their part, in order to maintain their phenomenal growth, overcome consequent social and environmental problems and avoid conflict with neighbours and economic rivals… on a superficial level at least, China is incrementally getting more like us by raising living standards and easing social restrictions.

Safely back in the Tibetan Medicinal Bathing Hotel I tuned the TV to CCTV 9 English Language channel and suddenly noticed many of the announcers were speaking with American accents (notwithstanding their Chinese faces). The most extreme example of reverse cultural imperialism was a travel program unashamedly aimed at US tourists and hosted by a very loud African-American covered in free ads for sportswear. Apart from himself he was most pleased with the massive white SUV he had been given to drive around in ("SUV" is American for huge, polluting, four-wheel drive status symbol) and the best he could say about China was that the scenery was nice, the roads were very good and there was lots of historic stuff.

It must also be said that Chinese media is far from being as subservient to American influence as it’s Australian equivalent – including the preponderance of American accents. The central government exercises considerable control over content; such as decreeing all cartoons must originate in China. Chinese soap operas must watch their moral content (no extra marital affairs, drugs etc.) and foreign films must restrict the depiction of violence to get exhibited in China. Private ownership of guns is banned in China by the way.

Notwithstanding, while having dinner with Chinese friends, one of whom I have known since my first visit in 2002 and who now works as a tour guide specialising in Americans, suddenly announced that Australians did not speak English properly i.e. like Americans did. You can imagine how that went down with me!

Finally, while out shopping for some new pants I saw exactly what I wanted in a large department store. In my excitement I instantly bonded with these pants and unwisely left the protection of my Chinese wife behind. An eager shop assistant pounced and engaged me with quite fluent English. She confused me, however, by offering prices that were not (as I thought) in RMB. She had assumed I was American and was offering prices in US dollars.

At this point my beloved Meixin (world champion in bargaining) caught up with me and a titanic struggle ensued with the now clearly annoyed salesperson. I emerged from this with two pairs of what I thought were reasonably priced pants while Meixin was still fuming over the whole incident.

So why this apparent love affair with the US? Never underestimate the shrewd pragmatism of China’s leaders. This year, for the second year in a row, when I arrived in Beijing every taxi driver was still listening to a radio program on the crimes of the Japanese during their occupation of China. The Japanese are no threat to anyone so you can say what you like about them in the process of providing a focus for Chinese nationalism. However you will see little in the local media that is truly critical of the US.Yet more than Japan, the USA is China’s main rival and bitter enemy since the Communist Revolution of 1949.

To this very day America continues to stir the pot over Taiwan, implying it would intervene in the event of armed conflict between China and the Taiwanese Nationalists. One tends to think in reality all China needs to do is sit tight until Taiwan’s economy becomes almost totally integrated with that of the mainland… but the complex history of Taiwan continues to contain elements of danger whenever local politicians choose to play the nationalism card.

However if/when China becomes the worlds biggest economy the US will not enjoy playing second fiddle. Even now, after the Bush debacle, US politicians talk about “America regaining it’s rightful place as the moral leader of the world” - and they are serious! Meanwhile the cream of China’s crack troops are wearing blue helmets on peacekeeping missions around the world – gaining valuable experience and winning friends for China while the US’s many bungled military adventures have made them the most hated nation on Earth.

These days the only bad news about China is its environmental problems and the growing gap between rich and poor (rather like the US). If the 2008 Olympic Games are a big success, and I’d be surprised if they weren’t, China will enjoy unprecedented prestige while the US declines in power and prestige as Britain did after World War Two. The US will do it’s utmost to undermine China, particularly with the use of it’s media monopolies and it’s client organisations (like WTO and the World Bank) while China must present the smallest possible propaganda target and reach well beyond Asia for its alliances.

China will always try to avoid conflict with the US because it is not in their interest. It’s bad for business. They will even appear compliant (as long as the US does not interfere in Taiwan or Tibet) until they no longer need to… such as after the Games. But Americans need to remember that young, educated Chinese have not forgotten the April, 2000 “accidental” US Bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade. China did not buy the CIA excuse that they were using old maps.

Since Beijing at the time had been vociferously protesting NATO's bombing of Serbia, the bomb that killed three PRC journalists in the embassy's intelligence room struck Chinese sensibilities as a crude American suggestion that Beijing mind its own business.

A year later, on April 1, 2001, a U.S. spy plane carrying a crew of 24 collided with a Chinese fighter, forcing the U.S. craft to make an emergency landing in the People's Republic of China. Blaming the United States for the incident, Chinese officials said their fighter crashed into the South China Sea and the pilot (a hero to Chinese) was killed while the US crew were uninjured and their plane landed safely on Hainan Island.

I was in San Francisco at this time and my intelligent, well-educated American host was incandescent with rage that the Chinese had the temerity to interfere with a US plane, which had entered their airspace for the sole purpose of spying on them.

China will not be drawn in to an arms race with the US because they know it destroyed the USSR, it would be futile and because they can’t afford to waste resources. They will, however, do what they have effectively done already. I vividly remember the smile on the face of a Chinese friend when he asked my reaction to the news of China’s successful destruction of it’s own satellite with a missile.

“Best news I have heard in a long time” I said. “I hope the CIA buys new maps,” I thought.