Out of the many reasons for and against such statement, let's just look at two, both of which are now amplified by the global recession - China as the world's biggest creditor and China's serious green investments.Firstly, China has the biggest cash reserves in the world, and more importantly it is the biggest creditor of the USA. Now, every American already owes China around 4000 $.
Yes, this is an interdependent relationship where the US depends on China for credit while China depends on the US for consumption. This relationship suited both sides well in the good times. Now we are in a global recession and China is sitting on the longer lever of this interdependent relationship. US state secretary Clinton's visit to China last week already gave a glimpse of how the relationship is changing towards Realpolitik. But this time it seems that it is Realpolitik more on Chinese than US terms. I would expect that the Chinese administration has studied carefully the old Western manuscript of using its softpower. With its amplified economic and financial leverage the manuscript should work again under the new masters.
Secondly, China has allocated around one third of its 581 billion economic stimulus package to green investment. This is more than double the US green investment percentage of 16% and the EU's of 14%. Only South Korea does better with 69% of its stimulus going towards green investment (Source: HSBC Centre for Climate Change).
And while the West is banging on about China joining the post Kyoto targets, China is actually seizing the economic opportunity of green investment now. They have understood that green is where the growth opportunities are right now and especially after the recession. The west is talking, China is doing.
Put the two things together and China has the potential to run the 21st Century. And is that a problem? After all China's rise so far has been much smoother than the rocky decline of the US during the last eight years.
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