Comparative Politics China vs US - Essay Example

Comparative Politics Apparently, the United s is declining as the Global superpower. With this view, the most fashionable question to be asked is; which country will take the lead as the new superpower? China is the near unanimous answer. Poised to outdo Japan as the world’s second largest economy by 2010, China has all the necessary elements of power, a strong state, a broad industrial base, a continental-sized territory, a nuclear-armed army, a large population base, and a permanent seat on the UN Security Council to be regarded as the US most logical and eligible equal.

The perception that China is becoming the world’s emerging superpower has developed so strong that most people in the West have suggested a G2-China and the US as a new partnership to tackle the globe’s most pressing issues. However, US opinions have been categorized into two views; China as nearly to slip into recession, and the US military with is alternatives describing China as more than a rival. Economically, China seems to be outweighing the US. It is the largest consumer and producer of most major agricultural and industrial products, including color TVs, coal, cement, fertilizers, fruits, vegetables, meat, cereals, cloths, rapeseeds, and cotton.

By 2006, China has put up 3.48 million km of main road and 45,460 km of motorways, which is five times the length of the whole UK motorway system in every two consecutive years. High and continuous economic growth has resulted in rapid urbanization and industrialization. Basing on the current government policies, China has a plan of implementing both regional and foreign policies in the next 30 years, which may be a big challenge and threat to the US as the current superpower. The government is aware of challenges and constraints of development in China.

Some policies have been implemented to solve this issue through setting up a harmonious society and limiting income inequality. More land will be renovated into grass and forest in the agricultural sector, thus agricultural production will become less depended on pesticides and chemical fertilizers and more efficient in the next three decades. Additionally, more investments are being made in the rural regions to advance farm incomes and trim down inter-regional and urban-rural inequality. Effective measures are being approved to fight corruption and strengthen Communist party leadership.

With huge investments underway, the country’s research, human capital, and innovation capacity in the strategic areas of environment, energy, computer and internet, space, military affaires and defense, biology and medicine, transportation and telecommunication China will be a much more improved state in the next thirty years. China has been modernizing its military software and hardware. Its capacities to venture its powers far from the shores have been promising especially with the increasing military budget.

Fearsome and strong as the numbers are viewed in pure context, its military is up to date in many senses, with weapons superior enough to chase those of the US. The increasing dependence on refined military hardware and its reduced reliance on a people’s war, whilst focusing on modern technology make China one of the rapidly growing military powers worldwide. This is powered by its ever rising economical strength and the huge surpluses. To be sure, the view of China as the emerging superpower is based, at least in part, in the nation’s remarkable rise over the last few decades.

Driven by almost double number economic growth from 1979, China has renovated itself from a separated, demoralized, and impoverished society into a prospering, confident world trading power. Having a GDP of $4.4 trillion and a sum foreign trade of about $2.6 trillion in 2008, this anticipated superpower has strongly established itself as a leader in the World economic power house. China overtook Germany on 13 January, 2009 as the third largest economy in the globe after revising its output growth.

The Chinese economy has thrived ten times in the last thirty years. The revision raised China’s GDP to $3.5 trillion in the 2007 exchange rates, being ahead of Germany’s GDP of $3.3 trillion. With this, China is expected to grow at approximately 6% faster than most world economies. Such growth rates are an indication that it will only take it three to four years for China to outdo Japan which had a GDP of $4.4 trillion in 2007. Most importantly, China’s rise to a superpower level is not simply dependent on its military but by foremost developing its economy in order to sustain a military base that is able to achieve the super power status.

Probably, China will not be like former Soviet Union which ruined itself by obtaining this status at its economy’s expense. Work Cited Bingham, Powell, Russell, Dalton, Kaare, Strom, and Almond, Gbbriel. Comparative politics today: A world view. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2008. Print.