“How China sees the world” is on the cover of this week’s Economist. The article discusses China’s ascent and increasing assertiveness in international affairs.
“Already a big idea has spread far beyond China: that geopolitics is now a bipolar affair, with America and China the only two that matter.”
But, as the piece correctly points out, we’re not there yet.
“Before panic spreads, it is worth noting that China’s new assertiveness reflects weakness as well as strength. This remains a poor country facing…its most difficult year of the new century…
“China is in a more precarious situation than many Westerners think. The world is not bipolar and may never become so. The EU, for all its faults, is the world’s biggest economy. India’s population will overtake China’s. But that does not obscure the fact that China’s relative power is plainly growing – and both the West and China itself need to adjust to this.”
For further analysis, check out the accompanying briefing.
Graphic from the Economist.
