China is doing a masterful job of building its military on the sly. The aim is probably to scare the US off, in the event of a Taiwan invasion. Getting John Kerry elected might have been cheaper. 
 
I agree with Conroy that China's economic infrastructure is not very sound. Plenty of cash from foreign exchange, serving as the democratized west's cheap supplier of manufactured goods. Very topheavy, though. A lot of discontent among the hundreds of millions on the low end.