... is pretty damn solid - the PRC made be divided linguistically north vs south; culturally with the inland regions versus the coast; economically with the peasants against the urban dwellers; & universally, with all of the PRC versus Shanghai; but the one thing which unifies this highly diverse state is the idea of Jungguo (the Middle Kingdom - the correct name for the state we mis-call Qiang-ar). Frankly, there's more chance of the US schisming on racial & economic grounds than any series wedge being driven (either internally or externally) in the basic structures of PRC; & it's this basic solidity which givens the PRChinese program the chance to really shock people - that & the fact that it has no ideological problems with teaming up on a self-help basis with other countries; which the ITAR hide-bound NASA is currently crippled by.