Putting ethnocentrism aside, as much as is possible, I observe that we are living in the Chinese Century, much ballyhooed as that which would follow the American Century. Sure it's gritty. grimy, loud and smells like boiling chicken, but that's exactly what many thought of the USA's time at bat. I don't know what to tell you...How about I begin here: when the Soviet Union fell there was much self-congratulatory talk in the States (my homeland) of 'The World's Only Remaining Superpower' a phrase I heard Obama use in his spying speech just the other day, but even back in 1990 or thereabouts, I was asking, 'Well, what the hell happened to China?', because I had always been told that there were three superpowers, and that that was a very lucky thing because if there were two they would be at each other's throats, nuclearly speaking, and it would be curtains for us all. Then all of a sudden the Cold War bogey man has crumbled to dust, and China has inexplicitly disappeared without a trace from the Big Three.
But it hasn't! I was there for half a year in 2012-13 and I was there 25 years before for a short time. In other threads they go on about how time travel is impossible, but they forget that we are all moving forward in time constantly (day by day) and when you're dealing with late 20th century-early 21st century China) the journey is a startling one. I hardly need to describe China's transformation in the last quarter century, we all know about that. What I saw though was a nation with more than 25 cities bigger than Chicago, a physical infrastructure so huge and complex that it makes anything in America look quite modest, and a dynamism that is also unmatched anywhere on Earth. I hardly know how to describe it, but just for example: when Chinese New Year rolled around (and of course, they don't call it that, it is the 'Spring Festival') even in a minor, out of the way city fireworks are going off 24/7 for about two and a half weeks! I am not talking about firecracker strings or kids with bottle rockets and cherry bombs. I mean Fourth of July fireworks like you might see in an American stadium, every few blocks, all day and all night long for weeks. Do you see the scale of things I am trying to describe?
You see, I've been kicking around Asia for years, and every where I go they may have dragon dances, temples, writing systems, vocabulary and of course, so called 'Chinese' food, and the people in these countries cannot but acknowledge the Chinese origin of much of their cultures. They proudly associate themselves with the behemoth. In China, I felt like I was in Ancient Egypt in that the world was 'all of one piece'. I mean, I would see kites flying, and like a fool, momentarily, mentally remark to myself, 'Oh! They have kites in China too.' Then in a shorter time than it takes to write it here, I would recall that kites are a Chinese invention, as is paper, and as is (very likely) bamboo framing. Then look around and think how modern China has become, with 'Western' conveniences and technology. Then I do a Wiki search and realize or recall that toothbrushes, toilet paper and steel manufacture and printing are all originally Chinese. As for Western contraptions available, well, they were all made right there in China! I don’t mean to belittle the Western contribution to world technology or culture. I’m just saying China must look on ‘The Last Remaining Superpower’ as America looks on, say, Hungary- a rather quaint nation that has seen better days.
If you want to talk about military strength ( I don’t) with its 200-million man army and weaponry, China could roll right over the U.S. Lucky for us, they don’t want to. It’s not that they’re so benevolent, it’s just that it would be pointless. They like America just as it is with its Silicon Valley innovations and Miley Cyrus videos. They must have 1500 huge factories that owe their existence to servicing just these two industries.
We all know about what happened in China in the earlier 20th century – from the opium war to the Long March, from the Last Emperor to Chairman Mao and beyond. They had a rough time, but for 5,000 years previously they were nearly always a force to be reckoned with, and I’m here to tell you – baby, they’re back!