“In What Ways Does a Rising China Impact the World” - Essay Example

China’s rise on the world scene as a growing economic strong house has been received ambivalently. Her increased control on not only the Asian economy but abroad as well has brought a power shift with her neighbor Japan who has been the dominating force since the first world war, as well as abroad. But what exactly does china’s rise mean to the rest of the world? China has a history that makes it renowned for opting to use military force to gets its way. China still holds a lot of anger and resentment towards the treatment it has suffered at the hands of the international community over the past two centuries and there are bones of contention between her and Japan ( Mahbubani, 2005).

Though china has held out the olive branch saying that its intentions are peaceful and their sole interest is in economic growth and development, most countries approach her with caution. The slightest show of claws leaves the international community in jitters. What has brought china into the spotlight is the global financial crisis. When Chinese leaders mulled over whether it was time a new currency was created because of the state of the dollar, every one was all ears and waiting to see what was the next step that china would take.

It means that china’s intentions are still regarded as being highly suspicious (Gee, 2009). The most wary are the smaller Asian nations who china has been making attempts to do more business with over recent years. China has changed her tactic and has approached south east nations with a more open attitude to dialogue and treating them as equals. China even offered to sign a free trade agreement with Southeast Asian countries as well as recognizing the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Goh, 2006).

It seems that china’s new approach is working with the Southeast Asian nations because these nations have been more welcoming of china’s participation in their economies. It has also helped that china has adopted a