SoohyunKwak
Professor Wilkinson
Political Science 135
Though no one can deny that China has recently risen as a world superpower, the implications of the country's new status remain unclear. In When China Rules the World, author Martin Jacques argues that China competes with United States to attain global hegemony, as well as predicts that China will emerge victorious. In the world that Jacques imagines, global hegemony will shift from the Western to the Eastern world.
While I agree with some of Jacques's arguments in forecasting that China will become the most powerful nation in the world,it is still far too early for China to gain supremacy. Of course, as Jacques mentions, China's economy noticeably demonstrates rapid development, at more than 7% annually. However,several problems have emerged as a result of such intense economic growth. For one, China currently faces a widening, polarizing gap between the rich and poor due to unparalleled economic surge, in both urban and rural populations. In recent years, though China's pace of development has been quite fast, it has also been unbalanced. China's politics also pose a host of other problems, as does the privatization of various sectors of its economy. More specifically, China's political culture remains communist, whichinvariably slows the paceof business. For various reasons, China retains unnecessary elements of bureaucracy that have cultivated political corruption for decades on end.
Yet, China's greatest threat is not itself, but its very competitor: the United States. If China were to increase its presence in Asia, then it would risk provoking the United States. In fact, the United States has already sought to check China's expansion as it gains momentum and power in the world. Though China is coming to the fore as a new global dominating force, the United Statescontinues to maintain its global hegemony. Thus, the Chinese and US struggle for world supremacy is inevitable, which burdens both countries, but especially China.
In sum, along Jacques's forecasted path for global hegemony, China faces many obstacles, including class divide, economic polarization, and widespread political corruption. If China cannot resolve these problems, then it will not exert hegemony. Of course, China is the only nation threatening US hegemony, which may be dwindling,but it is too early to declare the next superpower.