Perhaps the best description for China’s rise as an economic power nowadays would be “a looming threat”. True to the fact that China has more than a billion people within its vast expanse of so-called middle kingdom, is its ever-accelerating economy. Its insatiable thirst for oil and hunger to penetrate the global economy is shaking the foundations of our global society. China is redrawing the map of geopolitical power that was once conquered by America since the fall of communism.
As China embraces capitalism by signing into the world trade organization, albeit continuing with the legacies of its Maoist rule, China is no longer a sleeping giant. But China’s rise is at the detriment of the rest of the world. Its $2-trillion economy owes in part to its cheap labor, but to a certain extent that it breaches the intellectual property rights of legitimate companies. For some, China is considered a counterfeit country. Name it, and China has an alternative for it. And it comes at a very low price. No wonder all around the world, never be surprised when you see products made in China. And with its central bank undervaluing its yuan to a dollar (therefore making local goods relatively cheap), all China-made products can easily flood local markets even in third world nations, at the expense of losing the market for local goods like the Philippines.
China also plays a very pivotal role in the international political field, especially with its thirst for oil to fuel its industries. It knows where to position itself into for its own interest, that’s why it befriends Iran and Sudan, America’s “foes”, for oil. It also possesses the world’s largest military.
China can be considered a superpower wannabe, but it is not alone. Japan’s powers may have waned, but it still proves to be a potent nation; Europe positions itself as another force to reckon with, the likes of Britain, France and Germany all have their voice in the international political field. And there is Russia, as hungry as china (though a smaller economy), and a looming threat as well to America’s dominance. Plus there are other not-so-economically-strong nations that gained capacity to produce nuclear power (Iran, North Korea, India and Pakistan, etc).
So China, welcome to the club. But don’t expect to overthrow the United States for good. China’s language, mandarin, remains a complex language to understand. And its political will is weaker compared to America’s. It may trounce the latter in economic terms, but in all aspects, America remains supreme. But then, China is a welcome addition to the elite club of “first world” nations siphoning off wealth and resources from the more numerous but less powerful third world countries. Oh well, and its population… strength in numbers indeed. So strong in fact that there was a running joke about China’s dominance over the bigger Russia, as to why the iron curtain can’t invade or impose its power on the bamboo curtain. (Make the Chinese file in line, surround Russia, and urinate on it. Let’s see if Russia won’t sink…)
