China's Status Quo, and Revisionist Path To The Top
The US Is No Longer Alone At The Top
For the majority of the past three decades, the United States has greatly enjoyed its position as the only superpower in the world. Once the Soviet Union fell there was no true competition to the United States for about 20 years. The US was the hegemony of the world, and at the time no one came close. But that period of one power rules all is coming or has already come to an end. In this instance, I am not talking about Russia and the Ukrainian conflict actively occurring. Russia simply does not have enough power or influence to be a global superpower. But China does. China’s economy, military, and influence have vastly expanded over the course of the past twenty years. Its GDP is on slate to catch up and top the United States. Even with COVID, China has been able to navigate its challenges on paper the best. Allowing for the country to grow almost 10 percent during 2020 which most other nations saw the loss of economic activity or abysmal GDP growth numbers.
China’s rise to power seems to be a mix of both status quo and revisionist as they take components of the past while also creating a new history. China is an authoritarian regime, and many believe it is communist. But realistically it is a capitalist country by all means. But all businesses are for the most part under major control by the government. China is rising to power here not by reinventing what the modern economy looks like but instead is doubling down on some of the most successful applications of capitalism. They quickly recognized in the early 2000s the plethora of labor they can provide, and quickly incentivized businesses to take advantage of the cheap labor. The country and its leader inserted themselves into the rapidly growing global economy of the west and quickly rose towards the top. Seeing numbers up to 20% GDP growth every year. But they still carry revisionist ideas in how they want to get to the top and truly be the superpower of the world. They have taken an incredibly aggressive approach both domestically and internationally to consolidate their power. Today, they continue to say Taiwan which has been independent for decades is still a part of mainland China. Recently they have vastly increased military size and power and shown clear intentions of taking back the country by force. Within the borders of mainland China, the crackdown of political dissidents, and President Xi Jinping’s indefinite term continue to remind much of the West of how authoritarian the nation is. China has risen to the top both using tried and true methods of the west, while also creating new methods and messages to show that when they get to the top things will look very different.
Comparing the United States and China today, compared to 10 years ago has yielded significantly different results. Although the US is still considered to be the worlds leading power, more and more countries every day are saying that China now has that spot. Additionally, more countries are beginning to ally closer with China, as they have shored up domestic issues and are looking to expand their power internationally. China in recent years has been funding infrastructure and projects in other nations, but there is always a price to come with that. As they become more economically powerful, they will become more and more powerful in general. Today it seems a vast majority of countries heavily rely on China for its economic might, from small countries to large countries such as the US and Australia where China both purchases and sells a double-digit percentage of goods produced and consumed.
It is clear that the United States’ reign is over. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen. For about a century now, the United States has been a superpower, if not the largest superpower, and this will be the first real challenge to that since the Cold War. If the system remains bi-polar between the US and China it most likely will be stable for the world order. If other countries, like Russia, eventually try to insert themselves again as a world power, instability could rise and the world balance would be constantly shifting. The real question is will China implode before they can take the top spot, or will a second Cold War ensue in the coming decades. I believe the latter will be the most likely but only time will tell, and with the US’s heavy economic reliance on China it will be interesting to see how this conflict plays out. But for now, China is watching Ukraine with eager eyes, because if Russia can get away with it, China can too.
Works Cited
https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2019/12/05/chinas-economic-growth-mostly-welcomed-in-emerging-markets-but-neighbors-wary-of-its-influence/
https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-economy-powers-ahead-while-the-rest-of-the-world-reels-11610552422
Nice post! A couple of questions all over the map about US, China relations. Do you think China's mode of governance and growth is sustainable? How do you think the liberal world order, particularly American alliances, will assist the US if there is a cold conflict at some point? Do you think that the United States would fight a war over Taiwan? How far should the US be willing to go to appease China, particularly in its imperial habits.
ReplyDeleteI like in your post how you mention the revisionist and status quo approach that China has taken to possibly be overpowering the US as a global superpower. I would agree to some extent that China is a stronger superpower then the US, but I believe that the US still has greater power than any other country internationally. However, I think that with the recent rise of China's power across the border, it will be interesting to see how they keep developing and gaining more allies. A question that I have would be is the rise of China's power going to be something similar to that of the Cold War like we talked about briefly in class or will there be mutual power between the US and China?
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