Watch: Is China Merely a Competitor of the U.S., or an Adversary or Even an Enemy?

China has become, over the past two decades, the planets second-most powerful nation after the United States. Booming economic growth has lifted millions of its citizens out of poverty and catapulted it to the worlds second-largest economy, while increased military spending has made it the second-largest military power (though its military spending, and nuclear stockpile, are still a small fraction of the U.S.s).

That growth in both economic and military power has led U.S. officials to...