Also, there’s nothing hypocritical (which I suspect is the word you intended) in the US fearing Chinese or North Korean nukes but not minding the same from India (or the Netherlands). History has shown that democracies do not make war on one another, so the US does not fear an attack from India on itself or its allies. Alas, the same cannot be said for the corrupt and unstable dictatorships of China or North Korea.

Why does Japan fear North Korea, but not South Korea, when South Korea is a much stronger state and more of an economic rival to Japan? After all, both Koreas have historical reasons to resent Japan, and South Korea even has territorial disputes with Japan. But both South Korea and Japan are democracies, so they are unlikely to fight, whereas North Korea is unremittingly hostile to both.

If China were to democratize, then you would find that the US would not fear, and indeed might even welcome, Chinese military strength. For one thing, it is unlikely that a democratic China would continue to prop up the vile and murderous regime in North Korea that has resulted in the democide of over 3 million of its citizens.