Rising china or peaceful rise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Rising china or peaceful rise - Essay Example China's rise can directly be linked to the opening up of its economy, which has resulted in a transformation of every aspect of China's interaction with the world. From exclusion from the United Nations to participation in over 150 international organisations, including the China sponsored and driven Shanghai Cooperation Organisation; from a closed economy to $ 300 billion in foreign direct investment; and from self-isolation and suspicion to one of openness and integration. All this has resulted in the Chinese economy becoming the world's fourth largest economy in 2006, with many experts predicting that, " the Chinese economy will be second only to the United States by 2020 and possibly surpass it by 2050".1 What does the future hold for China and the world Will a resilient economy enable China to ease itself benignly into the international power equation, being called a 'Peaceful Rise' by Chinese leaders keen to play down the obvious ramifications of China's growing economic clout Or are there any threats - both internal and external - to Rising China that can undermine the whole process, and the stated Chinese aim of becoming an intermediate developed nation by 2049, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China China's eventual rise to global power status and the path it then adopts to achieve its national goals is difficult to predict given the inscrutable nature of the Chinese character. Ashley Tellis of the Carnegie Endowment has this to say, "Will China's rise trigger regional counterbalancing The answer is "yes." The long answer is "yes, possibly"; and the real answer is "yes, possibly, but we can't be entirely sure."2 Pei seems to challenge the accepte d hype over China being both the world's largest manufacturer as well as the world's biggest market simultaneously. Pei feels that China's current policies, " [are] spawning a dangerous mix of crony capitalism, rampant corruption and widening inequality [and that policies]adopted to generate high economic growth are compounding the political and social ills that threaten its long term survival".3 Be that as it may, it may be surmised that latent impulses to become a global power and a direct challenge to the supremacy of the United States would emerge as a consequence of its Comprehensive National Power, driven by its rapidly expanding economy, backed by a modern military machine. Internal Challenges to China's Peaceful Rise China is conscious of the fact that its geo-political power is directly tied to its economic growth, which requires a stable internal and external environment. Since the present global balance of power is not in its favour, and since this balance is unlikely to change in the mid-term, it has limited its geo-political ambitions while it goes about quietly building up its Comprehensive National Power. While other countries would seek to contain China's attempts to become the sole power in Asia, there are several domestic liabilities that China must address before its can aspire to that exalted status. These liabilities according to some analysts have reached, or are at the point of reaching critical mass, and under such circumstances, China might not be able to withstand a crisis situation