International Relations Response Paper Tutorial on 07/02/2012 James Connor Student no 10320779Re sponse to: Power and Production,

rethinking China's global economic role. In this reading Breslin discusses the real significance of the potential development of China over the next number of years, and calls into question its potential to become the most dominant player, in economic terms, on the international stage. Recent growth figures would suggest that a shift is occuring in the balance of the global economy, and if power is measured in economic terms, then this would constitute a shift towards a bipolar formation of power. Some would even suggest that China's role will not be as a superpower, but as a hyperpower. It is the thought of China as a hegemon that seems to concern westerners most. Other scholars suggest that China is infact on the verge of economic and social collapse, due to poverty and corruption in the Chinese government. At some points he suggests that America may be overestimating China's potential. China's involvement in globalised markets means that anything that they do to hurt other economies will most likely have a detremental effect on their domestic economy. The author does make the point, however, that in politics perceived power has much more significance than the reality. China's development of policies designed to facilitate further integration into the global market has resulted in economic prosperity. They have found their niche as a country who can effectively manufacture goods at very low costs, as a result of their undervalued currency with the dollar. The World Bank suggest that the closer a countries export profile is to that of China, the more likely that outsourcing will occur. This may explain the perceived threat that China poses to other countries. The next step for China will be to move into the tertiary economic, to move its citezens to a stardard of living that could be considered similar to that of a first world country. The fact that their niche is in the secondary sector, it will be interesting to see how China will develop over the short to medium term. The alternative to moving into the tertiary sector, would mean the upgrading of manufacturing to higher grade exports, like the type that Japan have been successfully doing for a number of years. If China was to take over as the dominant force in this sector, it would almost certainly be at the expense of the Japanese economy. The conclusion that Breslin draw is that China's signiciance as a rising power may be being over played by headlines, and it is this that is truly empowering them.