The US has been the world’s sole super power since the end of the world wars. It has been the world’s dominating superpower that has been ruling globally unchallenged. However, the world is changing and there is a rise of the latest players in the market and the fall of the old players in global politics and economically. China is rising up and this calls for the end of the US dominance as a superpower as it prepares to take over. China will eventually surpass the United States however, it is too soon to declare that it will happen in the 21st century because China needs more time in order to become strong and be able to stand alone. It has been predicted that China will make a great impact on the world in the coming years than any other country. This is because of the tremendous growth in its economy.
China has become America’s threat economically. The Chinese economy is growing at a very fast rate compare to the US’s economy (Hutton 96). It has become the largest exporter and the second largest importer of goods in the world after the United States and it is following it very closely. China has invested a lot in foreign markets and this has contributed to its booming economy. This has created job opportunities, raised the people’s living standards and alleviated poverty in China. According to Dodds, China is emerging as the world’s most powerful economy in the years to come (72). It has attracted direct foreign investments and has overtaken Canada by becoming the biggest source of imports to the United States. Furthermore, it has overtaken the US as the biggest source of imports to the European Union and this highly contributes to its growth economically compared to the US. The US has advantages over China in terms of human resource and natural resources and this makes it hard for them to overtake it sooner, China will have to utilize their natural resources in order to make more income from them.
China’s GDP is estimated to be around $8.25 trillion compared to that of the US which is over $15 trillion and it is the world’s number one. Furthermore, China’s per capita GDP is $9100 and is ranked 118 in the world compared to that of the US whose per capita GDP is $49,800 and is ranked number one. This is a very big difference and China has to work on its per-capita GDP so as to be able to overstep the United States. This shows that China still has a long way to go before it overtakes the United States since the GDP difference is almost halfway and this will take China a very long time to reach them. In addition, even though China has become wealthy by having the top nine people on the Forbes list of the wealthiest people coming from its provinces, they will work a little harder to beat the US. This is for the reason that America has spread its wealth evenly in its country in contrast to China whereby their wealth is not distributed evenly in the country but in some parts of the country especially in the province. This will highly affect China’s growth and dream of being world’s number one economy unless they spread their wealth evenly countrywide. China is facing economic balloons which weaken its global economy. Moreover, it faces financial instability, rising inflation, income inequality which is dragging it down. Moreover, even if China has the largest reserve of $2.1 trillion, the United States stability is strong compared to China’s.
China has moved forward with its military development which puts them as the second military power in the world after the United States. (Bernstein and Munro, 114). China is seeking to extend its military and investments so as to beat the US and this will take them a little longer which makes them remain second. The United States military has the Armed Forces which consist of the US Coast Guard, the Marine Corps, the Navy, the Air force and the Army. Comparably, the Chinese Military has the People’s Liberation Army which consists of the Navy, the Ground Force, Air force, Peoples Armed Police and the Second Artillery Corps. The US military force is still stronger than the Chinese military but China is working on its military force so as to overtake the US. The American military budget surpasses the Chinese budget as it is ranked 1st while Chinese I second. The budgets are $692 billion and $100 billion respectively.
The US military is ranked first in nuclear arsenal by 8500 warheads compared to 240 heads of the Chinese military which is ranked 4th. This clearly explains why it is not possible for China to overtake the US by the 21st century. Even though China has done a great job in growing its military capability by modernizing its forces, they are still behind the US technology and it will take them time not only to be at the same level with them but also to overstep the US. The United States has more than 11 carriers while China had none until it commissioned its first carrier recently. China’s military power is weak compared to that of the US and it will not be possible for them to overtake the US in the 21st century. They are following the US closely and this makes it possible for them to overtake it but in the years to come (Leonard 86).
China and the United States have different cultures since their history and practices are different. China did not colonize any territory but the US did colonize a few territories and this makes them different. The US business culture is effective and efficient compared to the Chinese one. China’s official language is mandarin and this highly affects them globally since English is the dominating language worldwide. The US outshines China because English is their official language and this gives them an added advantage over China. It will take China long to become world’s number one economy since they need to adapt to English since it’s a dominant language globally. They have a lot of things to work on so as to overtake the United States. China’s culture is both peaceful and warlike and this has enhanced a peaceful trade with its neighbors which have shaped its culture (Xuetong 25).
The Asian financial crisis has had a big impact on China at the margin. It decreased china’s direct investments and dropped its exports but thanks to its huge reserve which saved it from this regional crisis.
In conclusion, even though China has progressed in the past decades economically, it has along way to go in order to overtake the United States. So, the answer is no, China cannot be able to surpass the US in the 21st century because the disparity between China and the US needs more time than we thought. It is possible, but not in the 21st century. The US has more advantages over China. The United States has a large economy compared to China despite its small labor force. Furthermore China has disadvantages like economic weakness, low income levels, unemployment and resource depletion whereas the US has an upper hand in human resource and natural resource. In addition, the US military is ranked as number and is stronger than that of China and China has to work on its military force and improve their nuclear weapons to be able to overtake the US.
Although China has improved economically and is nearly beating the US and its economy is projected to overtake that of the US, its global influence is still limited and they have to work on it. China’s GDP per capita is very low and it has to work on reducing the difference with that of the United States. When we talk of China becoming a superpower and overstepping the United States, we are talking of the future which will take some time and not the 21st century since there is a lot that needs to be done by China for it to achieve its goals. China’s power status is big enough to disturb the US political and economic stability, it is just a matter of adjusting its foreign policy and changing their strategies.
Works Cited
Bernstein, Richard, and Munro, Ross H. The Coming Conflict with China. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1997. Print.
Dodds, Klaus. Geopolitics: A Very Short Introduction. Hampshire: Oxford University Press, 2007. Print.
Hutton, Will. The Writing on the Wall: China and the West in the 21st Century. London: Abacus, 2007. Print.
Leonard, Mark. What Does China Think? London: Fourth Estate. Li, 2008. Print.
Xuetong, Yan. The Rise of China and its Power Status. Chinese Journal of International 1.1 (2006): 5-33. Print.
