Riots triggered by a grand jury decision not to indict a white police officer who shot a black teenager have spread to about 170 US cities and towns. After deploying some 2,200 National Guard soldiers to Ferguson, Missouri, where the riots started, the situation seems under control. But the nationwide protests have taken a heavy toll on US society.

US mainstream media utters concerns that the public is losing confidence with US political and economic systems. But the US elite classes still behave with composure and self-confidence. US media reactions to this incident reveal that such self-confidence is wavering instead of being reinforced.

As a country which boasts a long, smooth history of development, the US is way ahead of most other countries in many regards, such as economic strength, international status and soft power.

The US knows their system is not the best, but it believes that so far, there is nothing better. This idea, which makes the US feel confident, has become a mind-set accepted by mainstream US society.

Some have put forward a hypothesis that if China overtakes the US as the No.1 global economy, and the standard of living of the world's most populous nation rises to match that of the US, will the US retain such confidence?

Preconceptions and many other subjective elements decide how distinctive interpretations are given to riots and protests in different countries and regions. Some unstable and politics-related factors cause concern for China because they are backed by the West. Their stands and opinions can always make a difference to Chinese society. Compared with its Western counterparts, the Chinese political system is still at an early stage, and it needs time to be tested and improved so we can have more confidence to deal with various issues.

The Ferguson riots show that the US is not the promised land. It is probably riven by more social problems than China, especially because the US is no longer rising like China is now. We must consider why it is that US society can keep calm as a whole, but Chinese society would feel much more concern if faced with similar issues.

This social ethos might be a normal reflection of China having more crisis awareness, but it could also be a lack of self-confidence. China needs to find the root cause so that the country can regain real confidence, and we cannot blindly imitate the US.