The People's Republic of China has been a communist state since 1949, when Mao Zedong declared, after a bloody civil war, that all of China was to be combined under one banner, and that banner was Communism. For many years, China remained where it was, focusing more on its internal problems and economic reform within its own country; therefore, China was not worrying about what was going on in the rest of the world. However, in the 1990's after the Berlin Wall fell and Russia became a Federation with its first President in 1991, China began to look towards the rest of the world. Under the leadership of President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji, China's economic growth rate rose to almost 12% and helped to bring over 150 million people out of poverty ("China "). In 2001, China joined the World Trade Organization and has since then maintained a steady growth in both economic and quality of life for the Chinese people. .
In recent years (2012-2013), China refocused and has tried to increase its geographic boundaries militarily. Two recent disputes were the Senaku Islands dispute in 2013 and the Scarborough Shoal dispute in 2012. The question is because of the territorial disputes China has had with nations like Japan and the Philippines in the past two years, should the United States Navy take military action because of good relations it has with Japan, and ignore the debt it has with China, estimated at $1.2 trillion? Is China rightfully just in claiming territory with the ten-dotted line? Is there any lasting benefit to having these islands? Is this just a show of force or planned takeover? Eric Wertheim, an article writer for the magazine Proceedings, explains China's growing interest in the Pacific: The organization [China's marine-surveillance organization] intends to increase its strength from 9000 to 15000 personnel by 2020, at which time it hopes to have 520 vessels, most of which would displace less than 1000 tons.