Suppose humankind possessed a time machine. Let's rewind a century back and ask the great European powers — Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Belgium — which country they would hedge their immediate bets on, given that they would be struck by economic collapse and potential defaults, financial breakdown and catastrophe, all administered with a debilitating dose of political gridlock (i.e. The Euro Crisis). Political leaders would likely only be able to point to one country for assistance: The United States. Given the booming American economy and the sense of American nationalism and collective agreement, the European great powers would no doubt consider their neighbor across the Atlantic their best bet for economic assistance. It sure as heck wouldn't be the war-torn, revolution-stricken, technologically impotent "Middle Kingdom" that the Great Powers had previously invaded.
But no one can predict the future. The United States is now wracked by massive unemployment, burdensome wars and internal factionalism. Almost nine percent of Americans are unemployed, the percentage increasing to 16 percent when accounting for those with part-time jobs. Wars and nation building in Afghanistan and Iraq have severely crippled the American resolve toward "making the world safe for democracy." Popular protests like that of the Occupy Wall Street Movement dominate the streets, protestors laying claim to the massive wealth inequality between the wealthy and poor. American politicians resort to brinksmanship and ideological criticism in order to advance their personal interests and political cliques. Europe looks no better — with their common standard of currency on the brink of collapse, and with countries like Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain facing immense sovereign debts and the risk of default.
To solve their domestic woes and to stabilize an economic system thrown into chaos and confusion, European leaders have recently begun talks with China in the effort to secure Chinese financial backing and economic assistance. Indeed, French President Sarkozy's recent call to Chinese President Hu Jintao explaining the European need for cash and lobbying him for economic assistance illustrated how dire the European economy truly is. According to Arvind Subramanian of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, China, with its 3.2 trillion dollars in excess reserves, is the only country "able to provide the magnitudes of relief that Europe desperately needs."
China has risen in the past hundred years to become a great power. Recent events — from China surpassing the Japanese economy this year to the international community's inability to do anything about Chinese currency manipulation — have confirmed the emergence of Chinese power capabilities. The fact can hardly be underplayed anymore. One hundred years ago, China was in the midst of internal revolution and civil war, with the inept Qing dynasty usurped by the Kuomintang government that had little, if any, capability to establish order. Bandits and warlords roamed the lands. One hundred years ago, European investors flocked into China, eager to fashion the economy into a panregion to further economic self-interest. This is the same China that was literally carved up by European powers; the same China that was transformed into colonial outposts; the same China defeated in the Opium Wars, the "sick man of Asia."
This "sick man" has achieved the impossible. Economically, China's rise has been remarkable. The size of the Chinese economy has quadrupled since the launch of market reforms in the 1970s. The average standard of living, as measured with GDP per capita, went from 95 dollars in 1960 to almost 4400 dollars in 2010; a noteworthy feat, considering the large Chinese population. Writing in Foreign Affairs, John G. Ikenberry commented that "[China] has become one of the world's major manufacturing centers and consumes roughly a third of the global supply of iron, steel and coal." China now holds the largest amount of U.S. debt, 1.2 trillion dollars, an amount even larger than that owned by American households.
Socially, the Chinese government has managed to both capitalize on technology of the future and improve the livelihoods of its citizens. It has invested in solar and nuclear power, advancing exponentially in these areas. Thomas Friedman noted that, "in [2009] alone, so many new solar panel makers emerged in China that the price of solar power has fallen from roughly 59 cents a kilowatt hour to 16 cents."
Citizens, too, have benefited from governmental action. In an article for China Daily, Albert Park from the University of Oxford translated this to "half a billion poor were lifted out of poverty, an achievement of historic global importance."
Of course, China still has a long way to go. The Chinese government will undoubtedly have to address issues of social censorship and human rights, if it is to be taken seriously in the international arena. We still can't claim for sure that the 1989 Tiananmen Incident won't happen again, given the arrests of Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo, artist Ai Weiwei and other proponents for social democracy. To fully enjoy the fruits of global trade, China will have to play by the institutional rules. Currency manipulation remains a contentious issue, though the Chinese government has taken steps to inflate its currency. Nations will need to see China as a dependable ally, if the potential for a multi-lateral international system is to remain realistic.
Still, Sarkozy's phone call signified a monumental shift in the power dynamics of the international system. It's a shift that sees the potential of China taking on greater responsibilities in institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization, a shift that historian Niall Ferguson claims will see "a reorientation of the world toward the East." One thing remains clear: the past century has witnessed the transformation of a "Sick Man" to a "Great Power." As Mao Zedong claimed in 1949, "the Chinese people have stood up."
