China's incredible growth has led to some pretty incredible growing pains, as well. Stories of civil unrest, widespread unemployment, environmental disasters, and human rights violations fill the news. Why then, with all these weaknesses, is China still considered a contender for superpower status?
One word: greed. International investors are making incredible amounts of money utilizing the cheap, plentiful labor available in China. Social conscience and the environment are trivial concerns if making more money is at stake, so these issues are whitewashed by the Chinese government and are overlooked by those making an economic killing in China today.
The company for which I work has seen factories in America shut down and their equipment sent to China, where it will be operated for 1/15th the wage of an American worker. We send American workers (they get a bonus if they are willing to do it) over to China to teach them how to take their jobs away from them. We were told originally that the Chinese would only be servicing markets in Asia. This, of course, has not been the case. Plants will continue to close in America as long as the cheap Chinese labor can be exploited.
As long as there is profit to be made, China will be exalted. Once they reach the level where they are no longer profitable, they will be cast aside, much like Mexico and Central America (anybody remember NAFTA?), for the next big thing (India?).
It also cannot be ignored that China, in the meantime, has built up a strong military presence in Asia. With little concern for its own people or its own environment, how can China be expected to become a responsible player on the world stage? If China is going to truly succees, there must be an effort to address its obvious weaknesses. Otherwise, China's weaknesses will affect not only China, but the world as a whole.
Susan
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Hi Susan,
You made a very interesting point about china being the favorite of the market place because of its current low-cost labor. Once its low-cost labor is no longer available, China will be discarded. I think that you are absolutely correct! I can think back about the “Made In” labels that have appeared on our clothing over the years and noted how they have changed as the market forces have chased after the lowest-cost suppliers around the world.
If I may, I would like to respond to a comment that you made on my blog post, on the same power status subject. You said that “[w]e need to consider China's status very seriously.” The point that I was trying to make in my blog is that the world (superpower) or regional status is an academic definition (of which we are a part). If it is strong economically and can project that strength effectively internationally it will be a superpower, if it can only project its power regionally, it will be a regional power. We should consider it seriously, including its internal problems. But, in reality, China will be what China is. We will have to deal with it on that basis regardless of what is happening internally if it projects its power externally.
Norm
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