Leaders | China

What China wants

After a bad couple of centuries, China is itching to regain its place in the world. How should America respond?

AN ALARMING assumption is taking hold in some quarters of both Beijing and Washington, DC. Within a few years, China’s economy will overtake America’s in size (on a purchasing-power basis, it is already on the cusp of doing so). Its armed forces, though still dwarfed by those of the United States, are growing fast in strength; in any war in East Asia, they would have the home advantage. Thus, some people have concluded, rivalry between China and America has become inevitable and will be followed by confrontation—even conflict.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “What China wants”

What China wants

From the August 23rd 2014 edition

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