The other side of the Chinese coin

Here in the US, most people are furious that it took 11 days to get our soldiers back and that the Chinese leadership was fussing over a word or two in the apology. In China, though, the citizenry is furious at their leadership for giving in too easily. “We’ve seen what happened after the embassy bombing. A few more incidents like this and the leadership won’t be able to maintain its hold on power,” said one man. What would happen to US/China relations if there was another (perceived as) bungled incident and Chinese hardliners came into power? Nothing good, I’m sure.