China, having successfully developed the world's fastest supercomputer, now poses a more serious threat than ever to the United States militarily, and to Japan commercially.
China's Tianhe-1A computer has been recognized as having greater computing capabilities than any other supercomputer in existence, anywhere, although Chinese superiority in this area might be short-lived because both the U.S. and Japan are likely to come up with next-generation supercomputers that surpass the Chinese model within the next year or two.
For example, Riken, Japan's state-backed large natural sciences research institute, is now working on a next-generation supercomputer named "Kei," which may outperform the Tianhe-1A by far. But the significant fact remains that China has now become one of the top global competitors in supercomputer development.