But China said it wanted peace!

So I've seen several stories calling into question China's self-proclaimed 'Peaceful Rise'.  Duh.  I've always enjoyed how Westerners adopted a sort of fourth quarter mentality over the years.  This idea that the game was almost over, we'd put away all that stupid tyranny, war, and oppression stuff, and all we needed to do was slap America into shape while the rest of the world eagerly waited to embrace the teachings of St. John Lennon. 

Despite clear and overwhelming evidence, we continue to hold onto that narrative, and never fail to act shocked when it doesn't turn out the way we imagined.  Nevertheless, we are always willing to give everyone else a second third fourth fifth continual series of chances. It's not as if it was America we were dealing with!