China’s Fortune

“The dominant narrative about China today is that it will, within a few short decades, become the preeminent power in the international system,” writes Gordon Chang. “How did this notion of Chinese supremacy gain hold? The answer is nothing more profound than statistical extrapolation.” He writes that this will likely not be the “Chinese century.” Rather, the country has “just about reached high tide, and will soon begin a long, painful process of falling back.”