Donald Rumsfeld is off in Singapore, at a conference of defense types, lecturing the Chinese on their military modernization expenditures. "Whadda ya need all that military hardware for?" he asks. "Who's threatening you? Some of your neighbors might take it the wrong way!"

The Chinese must be biting their tongues not to say, "We were wondering the same about you, with your plans to spend billions on "military transformation" and your precious "lily pads" sprouting nearby." Especially since the Bush Administration apparently expects the Chinese central bank to provide the financing.