The Korean war marked the first and only time China and the United States have fought on opposite sides. American opposition and obstruction to China’s rise make it less likely to be the last.
President Xi Jinping’s uncompromising speech on Friday to mark the 70th anniversary of China’s entry into the war did nothing to change that. He invoked the patriotic spirit of the newly founded people’s republic’s resistance to US aggression and its aid for its North Korean neighbour. But his words went further than remembrance for heroism and supreme sacrifice.