Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Leaders of third world countries had better follow China in this respect and never ever commit the folly of taking on super power like America without adequate military strength at their disposal. China, perhaps, is the only country in the world today which waited with bated breath long enough before flexing its muscles with America. Till it was in a position to cross sword with Washington it kept its head down. Soon after coming into power in 1949 Mao TSE Tung and his comrades had noticed that unless and until they gain that atomic strength which their arch rival America had it would be catastrophic for China to indulge in war mongering so they maintained a low profile and refused to get carried away by attempts of Washington to provoke them into armed conflict. They preferred diplomacy over warfare thus gaining sufficient time to carry out social reforms aimed at ameliorating the lot of teeming million of Chinese living below the poverty line. Small wonder China today is not only an atomic power but a strong economic power too.
18
