The Chinese rise in economy and global power has caused quite the stir in both scientists and U.S. citizens alike. Many scientists from many subject areas theorize on how the United States will handle another country rising to global power. Will the U.S. be able to share the power? Will history repeat itself and have the two powers go to war? These theories rely on one major assumption: the People’s Republic of China will in fact rise into a competitive world power.
Now, several aspects of China’s political system lead me to believe this presumption remains just that, a presumption. The first and foremost is the contradictions which lend itself to instability in its very base. The People’s Republic of China is a communist system. Yet, in attempts to promote economic growth, the country has allowed a number of capitalist policies into practice. In recent years even, capitalists have been allowed to join the Communist Party in China. Yet, in its fundamental core, capitalism does not work alongside communism. Communism is focused on the removal of private property, while capitalism relies on individuals and companies owning private property for their own gain. This move towards capitalism has been slow, with policy after policy putting into place to allow capitalism to take charge where it helped the economy grow.
However, even now, dissent over communism blossoms in various parts of China, as freedoms are shuttered. The political stability of the communist power is questioned as large companies such as Google move out over the anti-capitalist policies put in place. The potential for political instability, for capitalism to attempt a true coup, for the current hypocritical government to lose their footing. What’s more is the history of Chinese political leaders legitimacy. The Chinese have had many number of families in power, and their philosophy regarding those leaders is based on how well that leader is doing. More than just philosophically, historically so long as a leader does good in China, they remain in power. However, when they are no longer doing well, they are overthrown. The coup is considered legit since the leader was no longer doing as they were supposed to. This information taken along with the fact, like America, the more the Chinese economy grows, the more inequality grows, puts in place a situation ready for dissension in the government. The proletariat class, the ones who were supposed to rule under Marx, will once again be suffering under capitalism, but this time in a communist country. If civil war were to occur, then the nation as a whole would suffer in economic growth.
War is not conducive to economic growth, especially civil war. Before the United States assumes China is our greatest enemy for the seat of world power, we must first consider if the political environment within the People’s Republic of China is on stable ground. In the end, I doubt the United States will side with the currently empowered communist party, so that means if dissension does begin to brew, it’s likely China will find an adversary not within their own ranks, but within the largest world power as well. If the United States politicians are strategic, they will strike deals with the new government so that if it wins, we maintain our power.
Regardless of whether or not the Communist party is overthrown or the United States maintains its global dominance, the idea that the People’s Republic of China will continue to rise in the scale it has been is deterministic, at best. At worst, it might lead to an jumpy United States who become too trigger happy in their quest for power. To understand China and its course, one must consider more than its economic course. Just as important are the cultural and political situations which affect that economic course. For now, there are too many possible paths to truly know if China will be a global competitor, especially when their political system relies on two opposing philosophies. Katie Madel
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