As the sleeping dragon awoke toward the end of the last century, the West felt uneasy. And when it took off on the road to rapid economic development, the West's unease began turning into fear, giving rise to the "China threat" theory which is bandied about so rampantly across the world today.

Is their any justification behind this theory? China Daily put this question to Liu Xiaoying, a professor at the Communication Research Institute of Communication University of China.

In short, Liu's answer is "no". But he prefers to delve deep into the reasons behind, what he says is, the unjustified fear gripping the West.