Sebastian Mallaby’s Sept. 25 op-ed, “Is China a juggernaut? Or an ailing giant? Both.,” captured some of the contrasting forces at play in the country, but ultimately missed the mark.
Notably, as Beijing’s recent message to Moscow reflects, international economic turmoil slows China’s efforts to leverage the global economy to fuel growth domestically — growth that it needs as a middle-income country to achieve anything near the standards of living of the United States or Europe. Though Beijing and Shanghai are designed to impress, millions in China still face the type of poverty seen in developing countries. Yes, China has grown into the world’s second-largest economy after the United States, but it still faces developing country challenges, including 400 million people without access to clean cooking, while it also grapples with severe air pollution, poor infrastructure and inadequate housing in many places.
Whether, as Mr. Mallaby opined, China’s “weaknesses increasingly dominate its strengths” depends on how the country manages its “hybrid superpower” nature, notably the need to sustain robust economic growth at home (and accommodate resulting changes in domestic political pressures) while fostering the conditions internationally for it to profit from the global economy.
Philippe Benoit, Washington
The writer is adjunct senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.
