China�s Strategic and Economic Rise: Reverberations in Asia

The prospects for competition are prevalent for every rising power and chiefly emanate from three different sources: economic, historic and strategic. China is a developing economy and in order to sustain its growth requires resources, raw materials as well as markets for manufactured goods. This brings it in direct competition with other developing economies like India which are also striving for a similar goal. With the rise of power the possibility of conflict increases, as was evident in case of the rise of Britain, Germany etc. In the present century, the rise of China like its predecessors is also perceived as a threat. And, strategic space is finite, with the dominant power occupying the space to the detriment of the other weaker power. Thus, the seeds of power and conflict are inherent. China has come a long way from the strategy of hiding and keeping a low profile to being a more assertive power which now borders on aggressiveness, aiming at peripheral domination. This behaviour can chiefly be attributed to the rapid economic progress as well as military modernisation following it. In case of India, China is a subject of concern because of the China-Pakistan nexus and a possibility of a two front war with India; unresolved boundary issue; massive Chinese military budgeting expected to rise even further; and superior infrastructure in Tibet.

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