avinash.godbole

Does China's Economic Power translate into Great Power Status? Below is the full version of the article I published in  September  2010 on Opinion  Asia. Since the website is not  functional  any more, sharing it with the readers of this blog. I welcome your comments on this idea! In the recent times, the news of People’s Republic of China becoming the World’s second largest economy in terms of GDP has caught the imagination of observers of China. If the predictions are to be true, then China will become the world’s largest economy sometime in the next couple of decades. Whether about something good or bad, numbers and statistic about the People’s Republic have always been awe-inspiring. However, the question that could and should be asked at this important juncture is about the meaning of these numbers. Since there are many caveats to the present China rise theory, the ability of the economic status to transform China into a great power has been questioned. Therefore,

Industrial and Environmental Disasters inside the Global Giant:  Is something wrong with the Chinese development model? Urban air pollution in China China’s spectacular economic growth continues unabated and it has now surpassed Japan to have the second largest GDP in the world in dollar terms. China’s growth has certainly been miraculous and it has belied many negative assessments about its economic prospects. But at the same time, the People’s Republic seems to have developed a negative reputation due to recurring industrial and environmental disasters. In particular, in the last couple of months, China has faced major industrial and mining accidents and natural disasters. These disasters have caused not only financial loss but their human costs have also been substantial. While the number of disasters was low in the days of economic slowdown, at a time when the economy is growing faster in the post recovery period the race to the economic top is fuelling a slide to the bottom in