Dr TongFi Kim takes a critical look at the very real possibility that China’s economic rise may finally have reached it’s peak.
“The predominant discourse on China currently focuses on its rise and how increased confidence and capacity urge China towards more assertive behaviour, but Chinese policy should not been seen exclusively through the prism of “rising Chinese power”. Chinese leaders may adopt aggressive foreign policy because of pessimism rather than confidence. Yet few, if any, scholarly works have even mentioned declinism among Chinese leaders, let alone considered the potential implications of this vision.
It is important to think about Chinese declinism even when fascination by China’s rise prevails. At some point — if they have not already done so — the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party will seriously start to consider the prospect of China’s decline and its implications as part of their long-term strategic vision.”
You can read the whole article from The Conversation here.