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China's National Interests Essay

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China Essay
Evaluate the extent to which a specific Asia-pacific state has been successful in achieving its national interests.
China is firmly positioned as a superpower in both the Asia-Pacific region, and the global political arena. Some issues, however, have prevented China from fulfilling its national interests including territorial integrity, economic prosperity, a harmonious society, and a peaceful rise to power.
Territorial Integrity:
The PRC’s desire for territorial integrity means that China must remain ‘whole’ at all costs. As a state with a population of over 1.3 billion, China will undoubtedly encounter social problems particularly when 100 million of its population are not ‘ethnic Chinese’. The state’s ‘One China’ …show more content…

Moreover, China’s support of authoritarian regimes around the world in terms of trade and oil exchange may result in the spread of totalitarianism around the world as an ‘effective’ trade. This sets a bad precedent for future international trade. China is still firmly placed to overtake the world’s largest economy, the US, by the end of decade. This would be a shift in the hegemonic influence over economic affairs not just in the region, but in a global context. When the Chinese economy sneezes, the rest of world’s economies get pneumonia. A loss in the percentage of growth in the Chinese economy reverberates through the rest of the Asia-Pacific region’s economies.
Harmonious Society
One of China’s main goals is to achieve and maintain a harmonious socialist society by 2020. This is an ambition not easily obtained. Public outrage and lessening opinions of the government are growing in China reflected by the increasing number of public disturbances and riots. The police and military are quick to respond highlighting China’s poor human rights record. Pollution too is a major problem in China with 16 out of the world’s 20 most polluted cities being China. Over 700,000 deaths are attributed annually to pollution. Although China is moving towards better environmental sustainability, two thirds of its energy comes from coal sources currently and every dollar of GDP uses three times more energy than the global average.

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