Introduction

Since China has developed the open-door
policy during the presidency of Deng Xiaoping in 1978, China has been
considered a large economy after the United States. It ranks sixth in regards
to its military power. It has been popular in recent talks with regards to our media,
scholars, and policymakers that China on the rise. They question whether or not
China is an actual threat or rather an opportunity for the United Sates to
prosper itself. Experts
in regards to international relations and policy mention the balance of power
theory often and how it determines the current state as well as the future
state of the world. The United States should acknowledge China
to be a considerable threat due to its arguable position as world hegemony. This
would be the only case when China has grown to match the United States as
compared to a number of other significant fronts. China is, in reality, not a
super power but a middle power in terms of its military power and international
influence in regards to policy. China is not much of threat despite its obvious
rapid growth and expanding economy. This essay will go into China’s growing
economy and if this abundance of rising power can be in comparison to the
western economies like the United States. Before that though, knowing some
background information is crucial in understanding the Chinese psyche and why
they are the way that they are as well as why they stand out. Secondly, this
essay will also explain the argument as to why China has not already gained
significant influence in regards to culture and politics on the world stage. Third,
this essay will examine China’s military strength as well as attack the idea
that China has a strong military only because it has a large population.
Lastly, this essay will also talk about the possible opportunistic benefits
America can gain. It is no doubt that the United Sates has a sour taste from
China but its double standards towards China is making the United Sates blind
to a prosperous relationship that can turn into an exponential gain. By taking
the social idea of China as a threat and turning it into a partnership with
mutual benefits, we will see the United Sates flourish in ways we are wishing
to in our modern day economy. It is clear, currently, that China is just a
middle-power, a power that is not and will likely continue to not be a threat
to the United States in the near future despite its growing economy.

Background

            China
being a potential threat o even thought about as a threat due to its power and
the intent of its power. The growth of its military, economy, and military is
decimal to the United States but still alarming because of the pace of growth.
China’s intents vary on many levels, but its main concern to challenge the
United Sates because it stands between China’s rise in the Asia-pacific.1
What drives this need to expand is Chinese nationalism. They want to be
restored to its Golden age of glory and its position it had in the world stage
before the First Opium War. This attitude comes from the concept of
Han-supremacy, which basically lays out the idea that the Han are the best
people, and the creators of advanced civilization.2
This concept has both biological and cultural aspects intertwined together to
make it superior. According to Darwinian studies, the Han are of a common descent
and are distinct which means they are superior to other people. Their culture
emphasizes in traditional values, industriousness, discipline, patriotism, love
for their history and their people.3 This
attitude and confidence can intimidate many nations and regions on the word
stage. In my opinion, it is a significant reason as to why China is a concern
even though in reality is not much a threat. Image is absolutely everything!

China’s Economy

In the past
decade the numbers that have been put out by the Chinese government and other
organizations have made it obvious of just how much the Chinese economy is
rising. This has been the case for the span of about fifty years or so. China’s
economy has not only jumped incredibly but it’s very unreliable. The Chinese
economy has grown every year and it has an increasing rise in annual real GDP
per capita despite its decades of unpredictable GDP growth patterns since 2000.4 Due
to this drop, China’s government has been successful in improving their
economic plans as compared to previous years. One of the greatest contributing
factors of modernization in a rising economy is the rise in Totally Factor
Productivity (TFP) growth. China’s greatest source of growth has been a 7-fold
increase in TFP levels since 1970 despite its capital injection also being a
part of its growth.5
The effects of the growth in TFP growth and the less volatile GDP rise have
been enormously significant. The Chinese have been lifted out of poverty by the
billions and the destruction of poverty is not a possibility due to the growth
of the Chinese economy. Even though China is growing swiftly, it will not outdo
the United States in the next 50 years or so. The country is rich as a whole
but there are just too many people when it comes to its economic development to
be equal to the Western regions. China is way behind due to its high number in
population in all per-capita rankings of the world economy. China also has a
banking problem, a problem that has been explained in the number of non-performing
loans (above 25%) that the banks hold in China.6  China has been on the move from low-value manufactured goods
to a higher value of production. China suffers from internal conflicts,
inequality, and demand for political openness with the world and it is not well
prepared to advance in their economic development.7 China is decades or even centuries behind
from actually competing with the United Sates on per capita economic
development and standard of living regardless of its growth throughout the 21st
century. China should be seen as a beneficial economic opportunity rather than
a threat to the United States.

China’s
Politics and Influence

China is not much of a winner on the world stage when it
comes to politics. The Chinese might even want it this way and in recent years
China has less of a tense influence with the West in certain significant fronts.
For example, the Korean peninsula has been a recent tensions, China has
supported the United States pressure on the North Korean regime while China was
once a huge supporter of the North Korean regime.8
China has also eased up on the United Nations resolutions when
in the past they were noticeably intolerant of them. China is a self-dependent
economy and self-dependent on its sufficiency which can come from its communist
roots. China is noticeable on the world stage but it never makes it obvious
that it wants to be noticeable. A reliable source states, “China’s neighbors
understand the need to get on with China but have no illusions China feels the
same way.” 9
China also does not want to alter or accept the fact that the human rights are
being abused in its borders, “China does not yet wholly endorse global
norms of conduct.” 10 Aid
also flows into China in very large amounts between it and the United States. China
even mentioned that it is a developing country itself but some argue that it is
only saying that to continue receiving aid.11 When
it comes to culture the Chinese are easily out done even by India and its
contribution in Bollywood. We see Indian movies all he time and their cultures
are very known here in the United Sates but you do not see China’s culture ,
movies or anything regarding China for that matter be put on blast for us to experience.
The Chinese arts, music, movies and food are out shined by Indian culture. When
it comes to food, the spread of Chinese food can be drawn back to the
pre-revolutionary period when the Western travelers were adapting to Chinese
dishes. When you compare the influence of the United Sates politically and the
influence it has, China has a long way to go as well a huge shoe to fill before
it is actually considered a threat in this aspect.

China’s Military

Moving on to the
military aspect of China, it is safe to say that China just has an average
military force. Although they are not much a military force compared to the
United Sates, they still are better trained and well equipped than its Asian neighbors
and other regions on the East side as well. China is a second ranking military
power when it is compared to the Western countries including Japan but it is sixth
compared to the world as a whole. China is seen as an Asian hegemony in its
region but militarily that is not true. There has been a conflict regarding the
Senkaku islands with Taiwan and Japan. The Senkaku islands are located south of
the China Sea. China has not used military force in invading the island even
though it has obvious tensions with gaining the island. Taiwan would not be
able to win this battle with China but it would not stand a chance if Japan
came into the picture because it places arms on the island. Places like
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan are held over by China and its military
and outs a hold on any more advantages.12When
it comes to technology, China is still behind. When it comes to its military
technology, it is very poor because it is made up of cheap productions of
western equipment. Recently, China has set free its own stealth aircraft and it
can be compared to an American aircraft back in the 1970’s.13 Obviously,
we can say that India’s army in this case is basically as much a threat to the
united Sates as China is. China is improving its military no doubt and will
likely be an arms race in Asia, Despite this fact, China still remains weak.
Most of their military spending goes to cyber security building a naval force
that can intimidate its bordering regions. The United Sates will remain a
projecting military power even though China is gaining some muscle in her
military.14 It
is true that China has a massive reserve and it can be beneficial militarily
but in modern warfare it is worth basically net to nothing. China, to any
Western region, is s small threat to their interests and is militarily
inclined.

Threat
or Opportunity?

China does not pose a huge challenge but it is somewhat of a
little challenge, instead of viewing it as a threat it can be turned into an
opportunistic view. As far as market goes, China is a competition and that can
lead to more investing. Investing can lead to better goods, better services,
and economic balancing.15
Chinese money is valued in world banks. There are a number of reasons why the
threats cannot be accepted as benefits to the United Sates. One of the reasons
can be because we lost a lot of jobs to China. There is also the unfair
advantage of Chinas pegged renminbi/yuan. Another view would also be that China
is the reason for our debt and deficit.  Chinese competition can affect Western
pre-mature views and have more positive views of their policies.16The
United States seem to only support something if it benefits it. When Egypt and
Saudi Arabia have human rights issues, America Stands back and watches but for
some reason China’s human rights issues are more important or more of  problem. The United Sates can put away its
double standards and start to view China as a partner rather than something
that can be a potential threat.

Conclusion

Although China
is viewed on the world stage as a major power, when one researches it
cautiously, China, at the most, is an average median in power. We can conclude
that China is growing strongly in its economy day by day but it has a lot of
growing to do in order for the United Sates to be concerned. When it comes to
its military, their lack of technology keeps it from becoming an actual
hegemony in its region. It has been socially depicted that it can be a
considerable threat when one looks at it on the world stage but it is still
behind and has a long way to go before it is a threat to the United States as
whole. The rise of China is seen a threat though but there is no reason that
the United States cannot turn that fact into an opportunity. Who knows, maybe
that is what the United Sates needs to boost its economy and make it better. China can teach the United Sates
something with its confidence and sense of superiority which can restore the
United Sates’ moral.

 

1 “The China
Threat & What the U.S. Should Do About It.” RealClearDefense. August
1, 2017.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2017/08/01/the_china_threat__what_the_us_should_do_about_it_111942.html.

2 “The China
Threat & What the U.S. Should Do About It.” RealClearDefense. August
1, 2017.

3 “The China
Threat & What the U.S. Should Do About It.” RealClearDefense. August
1, 2017.

4 Bjerklie,
Steve. “China: Threat or Opportunity?” Metal Finishing 103,
no. 2 (2005): 16-20.

5 Liu, Guoli.
“China and the United States.” China Rising, 2017,
97-123.

6 Liu, Guoli.
“China and the United States.” China Rising, 2017,
97-123.

7 Franco, David
J. “On the rise and rise of China: threat, challenge, opportunity?”
Ceasefire Magazine. April 15, 2012. https://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/china-rising-threat-challenge-opportunity/.

8 Franco, David
J. “On the rise and rise of China: threat, challenge, opportunity?”
Ceasefire Magazine. April 15, 2012.
https://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/china-rising-threat-challenge-opportunity/.

9 Segal, Gerald.
“Does China Matter?” Foreign Affairs. January 28, 2009.
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/asia/1999-09-01/does-china-matter.

10 Segal, Gerald.
“Does China Matter?” Foreign Affairs. January 28, 2009.
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/asia/1999-09-01/does-china-matter.

11 Liu, Guoli.
“China and the United States.” China Rising, 2017,
97-123.

12 Franco, David
J. “On the rise and rise of China: threat, challenge, opportunity?”
Ceasefire Magazine. April 15, 2012. https://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/china-rising-threat-challenge-opportunity/.

13 Liu, Guoli.
“China and the United States.” China Rising, 2017,
97-123.

14 14
Franco, David J. “On the rise and rise of China: threat, challenge,
opportunity?” Ceasefire Magazine. April 15, 2012. https://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/china-rising-threat-challenge-opportunity/.

 

15 Franco, David
J. “On the rise and rise of China: threat, challenge, opportunity?”
Ceasefire Magazine. April 15, 2012.
https://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/china-rising-threat-challenge-opportunity/.

16 Franco, David
J. “On the rise and rise of China: threat, challenge, opportunity?”
Ceasefire Magazine. April 15, 2012.
https://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/china-rising-threat-challenge-opportunity/.