Future Belong to China, Fareed

¶ … Future Belong to China," Fareed Zakaria paints an accurate and rather alarming scenario of China's emergence as a world power. According to Zakaria, Europeans like complexity, the Japanese prefer minuteness, while Americans like size, particularly super-size, and that he says, is why China worries the United States. Not only does China dwarf the U.S. In sheer size, but its population is four times that of America. Moreover, the U.S.

has always looked at China as an opportunity for businessmen and missionaries, however, the last few decades has changed that view to one of a looming potential threat. Zakaria quotes some interesting facts concerning China's economic growth. China today is the world's largest producer of coal, steel and cement, the second largest consumer of energy and the third largest importer of oil. China now manufactures two thirds of the world's copiers, microwave ovens, DVD players and shoes, and during the past 15 years, its exports to the U.S.

have grown by 1,600%, while U.S. exports to China have grown by 415%. If that is not enough to worry the U.S., Zakaria states that China is the world's fastest-growing large economy and the second largest holder of foreign-exchange reserves, mainly dollars, not to mention that Shanghai's financial district is nearly the size of the city of Chicago. Furthermore, it now has the world's largest army and the fourth largest defense budget that is rising by more than 10% annually. China's growth, says Zakaria, has been extremely impressive.

In fact, during the last three decades, it has grown some 9% a year, making it the fastest growth rate for a major economy in recorded history, while during the same period, moving 300 million people out of poverty and quadrupling the average Chinese income. The world now relies on the China market, which has become an indispensable trading partner. The European Union's exports to China have risen 600% in recent years, thus, China is now the biggest slice of a new world and it is unlikely to change.

Another bit of sobering information that Zakaria mentions is that China and India already produce more engineers than the U.S., and within five years, China will produce more Ph.D.'s than the U.S. An example of this can be seen in the world's largest pre-college science competition, the Science and Engineering Fair, sponsored by Intel and open to high-school students from around the world, in 2004, 65,000 Americans participated, compared to 6 million Chinese. Zakaria cautions that the U.S.

should be careful about running up fiscal policies, for with China holding vast reserves of dollars, it has the power to damage the American economy. And although he believes that is an unlikely.