Political Science

The Cultural elements of China have always been and, for the foreseeable future, always will boggle social scientists and historians alike. The history of China is the history of orientalism, its tendency to assimilate its border cultures and develop a self sufficient image of itself have stayed on in the China Proper today. Chinese culture strikingly contrasts with the culture of arguably the only super power in the modern world, The United States of America. The contrast lies in their views of the world China, the self sufficient utopia for a race America, The melting pot of the world. One only has to visit the country to realize the edge a fast dynamic provides to the Chinese people. Their recent catching up in telecommunications, technology, arms and infrastructure is sometimes hard to believe but the sheer multitude of people, resources, and cultural sensibilities ensure that China will not be ignored in world super power polemic.

The British Empire - beginning with the late fifteenth century Tudor dynasty in England and ending with the death of the Queen-Empress Victoria in 1901 can rightly be called the first world superpower. By the beginning of the twentieth century, there were very few countries or people who had not been affected, one way or another, by the impact of the British. The Empire itself by then covered over a quarter of the worlds land surface, the Royal Navy dominated the oceans, and one in every four human beings lived under British rule.

Yet after the world war, Great Britain found itself floundering and destroyed under the immense weight of reconstruction costs, which meant that it had to retract from its positions elsewhere in the world and opened up the field for the united States of America which through their massive aid programs to Britain and western Europe ensured that the traffic of trade and money would perpetuate the flow of trade and reliance on its secure positions. The nuclear monopoly also added to the clout it had over other countries, till the late 1950s however it had firm foundations in the world economy and political situation through the United Nations, technological advances and international migration which made it the intellectual, financial and innovative hub of the world.

Another Competitor was The USSR, the cold war ambiguity has given way however. Their relative disconnection to the rest of the world always gave the USA the upper hand but in a world where perceived political power is equal to real political power it was considered a super power along with the USA. The disintegration of the USSR, lack of leadership, political and economic crises (which were propelled by the arms race) however pushed the emergence of the USA as the clear leader of the world. Since the late 1980s the United States is the only world super power in the world till date. Its cultural hegemony and influence on the rest of the world is staggering, it is the leading economy today followed by Japan and China has a military budget exponentially larger than any other country in the world. A large military industrial complex which employs more than hundred million civilians, a massive arms trade and technological monopolies, extensive participation in the third world have all made it the force to reckon with.

By mid century if china continues in single digit growth figures, it will be as large and strong as the United States economy would have become by that time. At the moment, the US economy at 14 trillion dollars and China is at 3 trillion dollars. So theres no major comparison there. (Albert Kiedel, Senior Associate Carnegie Endowment for International Peace). There is an almost unanimous consensus among economic analysts, experts and journalists that the US economy is faltering, en route to collapse and that China will shape the economic dynamic of the world in the 21st century.
The once autocratic, communist state led by Mao, seems to be a mere blip in the economic history of China. The official modern ideology, one that Japan has been propounding since the 1960s, is that the closer a nation conforms to the text book model of the free economy, the more economic success it is going to achieve. In light of the recent US intervention and economic stimulus programs more specifically their failure, this ideology churned in the corporate world and seeped into the hearts and minds of the people is quickly giving it an edge that is impossible to ignore. This one way free trade, has led to great successes in both Japan and China And their selective authoritarianism coupled with micro manipulation has turned out to be an excellent model for economic growth.

The Chinese system is not capitalism, and is not going to be converging to capitalism. It depends heavily on regulation and market rigging. Regulation and the central role of the government are crucial to the economy. Capitalists in East Asia do not have the role they have in Western Societies. Their societies are not geared upon capitalists being important people. The government is at all times second guessing economic outcomes. What started in Manchuria, and perfected in the Japan in the 50s. In all these economies, the suppressed consumption culture which is brought about has far reaching implications for any economy because of the high saving rate that results. The saving rate of China is not only the highest in the world today, but even in the history of the world as it saves up to 35-40 of its GDP.

In modern Day China those who invest heavily in new technology, are ensured a high return on investment by market rigging by the cartels and central government.  Thus the ensuing leaps in technology, and similarly in other important areas such as infrastructure etc. are brought about by the intervention of the central authorities. Unlike intervention in Western countries, Intervention in East Asia and in China in particular bears excellent fruit. The laws and regulations, and more importantly their enforcement are all modified to tweak economic growth.

The importance of these economic tweaks and cultural specificities in general lie in their comparative success rates. At this point in time all Eastern Asian Economies are highly productive in a similar way to China, whose supremacy lies in the future scope of growth because of its sheer size. In the West on the other hand, the consumer culture, high debt rates, economic deprecation and obstructive intervention to economic growth means that there is a productivity gap which with time will pull the rug from under the world super power America. When the recession hit the world financial system, China continued to grow, although at a reduced rate, the growth never stops. By the middle of the current century, the Chinese expect the population to rise to 1.5 billion and per capita GNP over 4,000, which is expected to make Chinas total GNP of about 6,000 billion or 6 trillion. As Chinas GNP has already reached 4.2 trillion perhaps, it will be even higher than the planned 6 trillion by 2049.

The significance of how the world has perceived these changes cannot be stressed enough. According to a recent pew poll, 44 of Americans believe that China is the worlds leading economic power to only 27 who think that America is. China has started weighing in on the oil industry, World Bank development program for Africa, and as the economic downturn spurns the competition Chinese capitalists are seeking to speed up their expansion internationally.

As fossil fuel reserves, financial turmoil, pollution soar, Energy solutions are going to prove pivotal in the world super power status of China. It is spending 9 billion on clean energy research and in five years seems set to become the largest producer of wind and solar energy, exporting technology to the USA as well. Energy deals with Russia and South America have stabilized the energy situation of China for years ahead.
 
China has a growing population, the sheer multitude of which would shrink any country under the weigh of the energy issues (Think of India). But it is investing in a broad variety of energy solutions. Striking petroleum deals with Venezuela and Central Asian Countries and Southeast Asia. An energy stance unparalleled anywhere else in the world at the moment.

China, and indeed other oriental states, will not succumb to or adopt western political values. Their cultures are self-contained cultures seeking self sufficiency their foreign policies seem extremely benign. They are taking humble steps towards the world, and will be recognized not through Machiavellian diplomatic tactics but their indispensability for any major international success. Recently the G-20 has replaced the G-8 as the main economic world summit because of the increasing influence of China on the world scale. Billions of dollars worth of contracts doled out to Western States during the financial crisis mean that the trade importance of China has gone up by leaps and bounds. It has become the key negotiator in the North Korea political talks, another fact that abounds on its increasing indispensability. Another aspect of its cultural hegemony is the language which, even in its obscurity is the most spoken in the world. It has a labor force which can shake economies, a highly skilled, cheap and productive one. Compared to United States, where legislative loopholes have made it extremely inefficient, China is an extremely well oiled piece of machinery.

Recent Gallup statistical analysis on Chinese world leadership compared to the United States show that the Median Approval rate of the Chinese is topping those of the USA. Their pacifist attitudes have led to their approvability being higher than the mal-perceived USA. China is looking to subtly use its growing economic strength to build new political alliances while not missing opportunities to be at the right place at the right time. The grand strategy seems to be working as it develops ties with Iran signing an energy deal with them and refusing to take their nuclear program to the UNSC.
The peoples republic of China also looks set to break the Tiananmen Square arms embargo, luring Europe with large commercial deals that will lead to the growing military strength, along with its economic acclivity. It has formed alliances with over 146 countries and has military attaches to over a hundred. It is establishing military ties in South America in addition to its presence in Cuba. The sheer ubiquity of Chinese people and companies all over the world easily paves way for intelligence gathering which will undoubtedly be used to increase its military prowess and economic influence which in todays world equals political chips. In 2004, more than 100 military exchange programs took place involving more than sixty countries. Chinese Military technology is being sold to developing countries, and their market is ever growing.

The PRC has invested in new generations of survivable nuclear missiles capable of targeting the United States as well regional powers, advance short and medium range ballistic missiles, nuclear submarines, Russian aircrafts and precision weaponry, multi-mission F-10 fighter plane, anti-ballistic systems, and mobile air defense systems.  Another area of concern is its ability to use cyber attacks to destabilize the developed world. A recent example is of the cyber-espionage network ghostnet. Google, one of the affected companies, led an investigation into the attacks and found that at least 20 other large companies from a wide range of businesses including the internet, finance, technology, media and chemical sectors had been targeted. The computers used in the attack were exclusively Chinese, recording losses of estimated billions.

Another issue in china is of their censorship and extreme control of the media. The recent Olympics reflected on how censorship is reminiscent of the communist era. The genocide in Tibet and other draconian human right violations have also attracted a lot of negative publicity. But the Chinese responded with the statement that international firms fail to understand the Chinese market and adapt to its dynamics. The censorship also ensures that nothing much about Tibet is ever brought to international grapevine. It is considered a necessary evil and is ignored largely because of what I call the indispensability of the China.

CONCLUSION
China, for all ends and purposes, is already a super power. In the classical definition of a super power, we expect to see an imperialistic state with an authoritative stance in international affairs. Simply put, the world does not understand Chinese culture which will redefine the image of super powers. The economic stability and growth, coupled with the successful Eastern Asian Model of the economy it has perfected have ensured that its economy will lead the oriental world which is already a big rival of the traditional west in world affairs. The quiet way in which China goes about its foreign policy goes to show the confidence it enjoys in its self sufficiency and indispensability.

With the downturn the United States has taken to and the development gaps between other super power contenders such as India China seems set to change the landscape of the 21st century as a powerful nation, as the super power status depends on its ability to make the gross human right violations, and nuclear non-proliferation and culture to be accepted universallyTough.