From Overseas Press

For China, will money bring power?

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-08-26 10:39

China has just overtaken "Japan as the world's second largest economy, and bids fair to knock the US from the top spot within 20 years." The country's economy has "grown by almost 10 percent a year--one of the most sustained expansions in history." Then the crucial question came: "How will China use its newfound wealth?" asked an article in the New York Times on Aug 21.

The "traditional answer is that rich countries tend to equip themselves with the sinews of war in order to enhance their position at the expense of rivals." However, "recall that at the start of the new millennium, a consensus existed among China-watchers that the Red Menace was as much of a mare's-nest as the Yellow Peril," according to the article. China would "concentrate on butter not guns, harmonizing its interests with those of its competitors through the peaceful mechanism of the open market."

Whatever the truth, "informed opinion is now divided about Chinese intentions." There are signs that China is "flexing its muscles" since its "defense budget rose to be the second highest in the world in 2008," and its "naval forces caused ‘the loss of the Pacific Ocean as an American lake'." China is "expanding its influence in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and South America" to search markets and natural resources.

However, China's "6.6 percent share of global expenditure on arms is dwarfed by America's 46.5 percent." The country is "preoccupied by the problems associated with rapid growth: pollution, corruption, rural poverty, urban overcrowding and troubled labor relations."

So China has opportunities and challenges as well. For the moment at least, "China may well keep its promise to follow the path of peaceful development." "Doom-merchants predicting that China will topple America from its pre-eminence should recognize that history is not necessarily on their side," concluded the article.