China has yet to give an indication of how it will respond to the Taiwan arms sales package, although it will undoubtedly involve some tough talk and bellicose posturing. But Chinese foreign policy analysts are certain it will not affect trade and business.
'At the end of the day, I don't think Sino-American relations will get that much worse,' said Professor Guo Xiangang, of the American affairs department of the Institute of International Affairs.
'The reason is simple: bilateral trade jumped 21 per cent last year and this will lead relations in the right direction,' he said.
Chinese mock US President George W. Bush - popularly called 'little Bush' in China's official press - as a know-nothing cowboy, but he may be joined by a right-leaning new prime minister in Japan, Junichiro Koizumi, who will show even less tolerance for China's views.
Even before the elections, Japan's ruling party was paying little heed to China's vehement protests over the history textbooks issue. The books gloss over Japanese atrocities during World War II.
The arms sales put a final full stop to efforts by former US president Bill Clinton to resolve key tensions in the region by offering concessions to North Korea and China. Japan now seems bound to follow Mr Bush's lead in taking a tougher and more sceptical line towards Pyongyang - bringing about an end to a resumption of talks between the two Koreas.