China Rising
 

As the 2008 Beijing Olympics approaches, China seems to be on the forefront of the international stage. I recently spent three months in southwestern China, and my experience taught me a lot about this increasingly influential nation. China is becoming a juggernaut on the world stage--it owns a vast amount of U.S. debt, for instance--and, with the events surrounding the problems in Tibet and Taiwan, the recent earthquake, and preparations for the Olympics, this often overlooked nation is now in the spotlight of the international community.

I'm curious as to what you guys think about this new superpower. Will China be a major problem for the U.S. in the future? What should be done about the situations in Tibet and Taiwan? Is it possible to extract ourselves from our economic dependency on Chinese-made goods and products? Is China a necessary friend or a potential foe?

China's pollution is really going to be a problem...

The fact is while I know that Chinese goods help to boost our economy, I'm to believe that China is more a "Necessary foe" they own 1 trillion of our 38 trillion dollar debt but that does keep China from hurting us without hurting themselves.

So I'm hesitant to say that China becomes a reasonable superpower, but it will probably happen regardless.

China and India will overtake the United States soon enough as a superpower. With their better economy (better for the government, not the people mind you), they are achieving a far faster and higher surplus of everything. Furthermore, their incredibly high population creates a higher level of competition. It's only a matter before China, and soon to follow in its footsteps India, will be more influential in the world than America.

At least, in terms of economy and finance. I have no clue what the dealio is going to be with the military. Maybe China will spend government funding on weapons research, and stumble upon something better. Who knows. But if that happens, America is pretty screwed.

They dont need a better military when they have four times as many people, and no morals. They just need a comparable one. We honestly need to smooth things over with them before we get neck deep in shit we cant dig out of.

???

Can you expand on that? You say neck deep but are you referring to our finances or through military might?

Well, both are considerable threats.

I cannot imagine a time where China was to be overlooked, unless you mean during WWII.
No morals? That's a rather powerful claim you're making.

The problem, if you want to call it that, with China is that their heritage and history give them a powerful sense of purpose and drive. Because the country has a lot more resources at their disposal, including manpower, they have great potential in whatever goal they strive for.

The Chinese also have a drive starting from recent history. From the events of WWII China realizes it is behind the times in terms of global power, and has obviously gone full throttle in trying to catch up. Contrast this with the currently decadent US which believes itself to be the most powerful.

Also, I'm fairly sure the Americans lost Vietnam because of Chinese intervention. The Chinese essentially overwhelmed the US Army with greater numbers.

It's also notable that overall China is making advancements in energy management and bettering it's people's lifestyle. I believe there are ~52 mass transit systems being built in China as of now, where in the US there are none.

Overall, US seems pretty boned as far as being on top is concerned. Then again, the question remains if it's worth being on top at all.

Frankly, America needs to just stop spending so much in general. I was watching C-SPAN today, and one guy said that if government spending continues as it is unchecked, in 20 years, it will exceed the limits of the entire American economy. That's scary, and we have never been so in debt as we are now, all from only 3 Republican presidents.

Everything that's being said about China now was being said about Japan in the 70's and 80's. India is already starting to plateau in terms of growth, and China isn't far behind. Economies can only grow so fast for so long. A Chinese economist friend of mine was mentioning the other day that he was worried another 1998 was just over the horizon, but this time coming from China instead of Japan. I'm not an economist so my eyes kind of glazed over as he was explaining the details, but it doesn't seem impossible. Don't let the Discovery Channel specials on the Olympics fool you.

The real thing that worries me about China is the fact that they have a huge surplus of male children. There's going to be something like 30 million more boys than girls coming of age in the next decade or so, and that doesn't bode well for their neighbors, since historically speaking a surplus of men usually means a propensity for war. The areas most vulnerable, in my opinion, are Mongolia if a pro China party comes into power, North Korea once the regime collapses, and the _______stan areas to their west (Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan specifically). Tibet is pretty much effed at this point, but Nepal is prooooooobably safe, at least from China. I don't see them making too much of a grab in India's direction.

Thats because the chinese government favors male over female births for familes and helps them out more. i belive abortions for females is increasingly high in China because of this. Thats just what I hear though.