China: Prosperity, Wealth, and Implications for the U.S. National Military Strategy

Abstract

Abstract : During the past sixty years, the People's Republic of China has watched the pendulum of post-communist victory swing from a period marked by extreme hardship to a period marked by tremendous economic development, growth, and prosperity. Indeed, it is this prosperity over the past thirty years that has propelled China the ladder of financial wealth while also funding a sustained and extensive military transformation and modernization program. The combination of these efforts has put China on a path to become a fully developed regional, if not global power. As a result, many nations view China's rise as a source of suspicion and concern primarily due to its lack of transparency. Against the backdrop of China's progress and its potential to up end the balance of power in East-Asia the issue is, how should the United States assess China's progress in order to determine the way ahead in alleviating any suspicions and concerns now and in the future? In answering this, this essay examines China's rise in global wealth, its need to fund a sustained and extensive military transformation and modernization program, and the implications of its military build-up for the United States National Military Strategy.