Third footnote to the post titled “Fuqiang”

In short, we can attribute a finite set of factors to China’s rise as a global power, namely, the West’s xenophobic attitude and its fear of globalization, America’s wars, the global financial crisis, and thus the shift in the balance of power in East Asia in favor of China, China’s emergence as an alternative pole to America in the international system, and China’s astronomical and quick rise over the course of the last couple of decades which in turn enabled China to close the gap between itself and the United States over the span of the last couple of decades. To give you a sense of how far China has come over the last couple of decades, China’s national wealth was estimated at around 3 trillion dollars at the start of the 21st century compared to America’s 42 trillion dollars. Today, China holds around 90 trillion dollars of national wealth compared to the 120 trillion dollars held by the United States. Together, China and America hold about 60 percent of the world’s wealth, which means only two nations hold about 60 percent of the world’s wealth. Nevertheless, this closing of the gap between China and the United States evinces the central theme of international affairs today, namely, the relative decline of the United States and the rise of China and how the United States responds to this situation.