January 22, 2024

Rumors of China’s Decline Are Premature and Dangerous

By: Richard Fontaine

Speaking in Davos, Switzerland, last week, Chinese Premier Li Qiang pitched his country as a solid investment destination. The Chinese economy, Li said, has “huge potential,” and choosing it “is not a risk, but an opportunity.”

His audience listened skeptically. After decades of unstoppable Chinese economic, demographic and military growth, the past two years have seen more trouble than triumphs. That has led some analysts to worry not about the rise of Chinese power but instead the irrevocable decline of China’s economy.

China continues to rise and seems bent on regional domination and international revisionism.

These fears are utterly premature. Worse, if they represent the assumptions on which U.S. policy is based, America will fail to rise to China’s challenge. The chief near-term risk is not that Beijing’s ascent will fizzle, but rather that Washington will fail to muster the strength necessary for an adequate response.

Read the full article from The Washington Post.

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