Reply With QuoteThey are a superpower without the shadow of a doubt whether get to número uno position who knows.
Superpower Denied? Why China’s ‘Rise’ May Have Already Peaked
Over the last several years, I have read much, as I am sure you have , that China is the next world power. Short of my trips to Walmart to buy all Chinese products, I have never been so sure. I have seen though in the news China's economy is slowing. There is rumors they cook their books. There is mass protests everyday. Their people have a locked down internet. They claim islands hundreds of miles away. They pollute the environment so badly. Maybe China's rise is just a myth?
http://thediplomat.com/2012/08/09/su...lready-peaked/
They are a superpower without the shadow of a doubt whether get to número uno position who knows.
China is not a superpower as of now! it's technological capabilities,social and human development,power projection capabilty are not at par with US.Originally Posted by Mr Gently Benevolent
Wrong. They are a major regional power; possibly a great power. They have not achieved hegemony in Asia though....so no superpower status yet.
I now believe their influence is very significant in global affairs and trade that they are a de facto super power.
There is currently only 1 superpower. Superpower status is achieved when a country (like the USSR or the US) achieves hegemony on/in their continent/region (ie, no other power can challenge it) and can exert influence on other parts of the world. China is excluded in this because of both India and Russia. China cannot achieve hegemony while these 2 powers retain their Great Power status. Also, because the US is the sole superpower (some consider us the global hegemon), it will act to counter the rise of another super power and so will make it more difficult for China.
Besides Russia and India, What about Japan, Taiwan and the ROK.....China cannot honestly say that they can 100% take on any of the above in an air or Naval war and be assured of victory, hence by definition, the PRC is a Regional power (and not truly even the strongest in the region in terms of effective sea-air dominance)
So no, not a superpower. Big regional player in a region with lots of hardware, a history of territorial and political disputes, etc, but no world-wide player.
Don't mean to nit-pick, but the fact that they possess a nuclear capability (not to mention a population of more than 1 billion, and a growing economy) makes them at least a major regional power, and possibly a great power. But yes, to call them a superpower is a mistake. They do not fit the criteria.
As far as nukes making a country a superpower or not: Indian, Israel, and Pak, all in Asia, have a good deal of nukes and no one thinks of them as a miltary superpower. And don't doubt that somewhere in the ROK and Taiwan they have on the low-low at least one or two tactical briefcase or air deliverable low yield devices even if they are officially 'on-loan' with multiple safeguards that both loaner and loanee would have to agree to to use.
At one point, the U.S. stationed over 900 nuclear weapons in South Korea and of a variety of types, including surface to surface missiles, anti-air missiles, 8-inch Howitzer nuclear artillery and a variety of bombs. The arsenal was decreased over time and the last nuclear weapons were (officially) removed in 1991.
Same goes for Japan. We haven't stationed nukes there since 1972 when we pulled them out of Okie, but it wouldn't surprise me if somewhere on a Japanese base at least a handful of devices aren't sitting there under joint control justincase.
Never suggested a nuclear capability equates to super power status. However, having that capacity does confer a certain amount of hard power to said country. It makes them regional powers at the very minimum. Taking that into account along with China's massive population (and large conventional military), it's large industrial capacity, and a large and growing economy together make China, in my opinion, a major regional power. And I think one could make the case that they are a great power.
@Spartan, I agree completely
I would not say that the status of superpower is tied to having regional hegemony. The USSR did not really have it in Europe (NATO) nor in Asia (partly due to China).
Rather it means that you are "untouchable" except for a nuclear strike which would take everyone with it while at the same time being able to project power at will.
And China has this status.. maybe not through quality of military hardware but through size, population and industrial/economic influence.
One could argue that in their region (Eastern Europe and Asia) the USSR was a hegemon, but that's a separate debate. What is relevant is that the USSR was actively competing with the US for global hegemony. I think this is a good definition of a superpower:
Relevant article of hers on the topic of China and how to determine superpower status, and also the origin of that quote I used, http://www.stanford.edu/group/sjir/6.1.03_miller.html
The only place that the PRC is a superpower is in the PRC. They are a huge exporter, a big player on the economic scene, but so are several members of the G8 like Germany and Italy, which since 1945 have not been global powers.
Regional power all day.
BUT they cant project it anywhere.
You couldn't really see China sending a Corps-sized expeditionary force anywhere in the world. Granted they have some SF, Airborne, and Naval infantry, but if tasked with putting an armored corps in SW Asia or Central Europe, it just wouldn't happen. The same cannot be said about the US or even Russia (who is no longer a superpower but if needed could probably whistle up at least a few divisions to send to a third world hotspot if they had the political mandate for it).
Likewise with the PRC airforce. While they could make it dark and cloudy with a chance of fallout over Taipei or Tokyo, they would be hard-pressed to put 150 long-range strike aircraft any spot in the world. On the other hand the US could say that (for now at least) between the B-1/B-52 and B-2 platforms that is something that could happen.
When you talk naval forces, the PLAN is a slow starter. They have one experimental carrier, a bunch of noisy diesel subs, a few only marginally more capable SSN, and a huge host of littoral FF and FAC vessels. While these can deny access to local waters, they just cant project power outside of the Western Pacific with the exception of a few contributions to anti-piracy patrols under a UN agreement. This is also a benchmark of the US which can (until Enterprise retires) provide up to 10 Carrier Battle Groups if needed and properly supported, plus a large force of SSGNs and SSNs.
In Cyber-warfare and Asymmetric Warfare China can most likely punch out of thier league, but then again so can Iran and a host of non-nation state actors so this is not a measure of a military superpower.
China= Regional power with aspirations/not a superpower
Just saying
I agree that china is not a superpower. I also think that china won't be able to remain a regional power in the future and that the true regional powers will be RoK and Japan but that's 20 years down the road from now so it's a moot point.
Warder
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