The Unites States cedes to China in the struggle for the influence in the world. Meanwhile, mutual suspicions are growing among the residents of both rivalling countries. This is the result of a sociological survey, which the Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily is conducting in 39 countries. The fears are growing in America and Europe that China will be dominating on the markets and will pursue an expansionistic policy. In the view of the experts, the negative assessments of the U.S. in China are the result of the anti-American propaganda.
In a competing struggle with China the U.S. is losing its positions of the world leader, the newspaper noted. Many countries believe that China is turning into a leading world economic and political power. This is the result of the sociological survey of 38,000 people in 39 countries, which the sociological centre Pew conducted. This centre situated in Washington declares that it is beyond politics and is not linked with any party.
China does not doubt that the country will be dominating in the world finally. About two thirds of Chinese said that China had already surpassed the U.S. or will surpass it in the future. The Americans do not have such a categorical position. Now, 47% of Americans believe that the U.S. will keep its leadership, compared with 2008, when 54% of respondents supported this view.
“Doubtlessly, China is turning into a global power and is getting closer to the U.S. in some indicators,” chief scientific fellow of the Institute of the Far East at the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Larin told the Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily. “For instance, China is ranked second after the United States in terms of the GDP volume. In 2012, according to different estimates, China’s GDP has made over eight trillion dollars. The U.S. GDP is about 16 trillion dollars. China is expected to catch up with the U.S. by 2020 or 2030,” Larin said.
China is leading in the world in terms of the economic growth. The country is ahead of all other countries in the world in the production of coal, steel, concrete, TV sets, bikes, clothes and footwear. But China is lagging far behind the developed countries in the per capita figures. To bridge this gap China will have to refuse from the relying on investments and exports and to reorient its economy on the domestic market. It is unclear how to fulfil this task.
“No major international problem is settled without the participation of China. The country’s influence is spread not only on the Asia-Pacific Region, but also Africa and other continents. Chinese producing companies are buying the raw material assets throughout the world. Western Europe also takes China as an important investor. China is modernizing its armed forces, particularly the Air Force and the Navy. However, China is not equal to the U.S. yet in the field of nuclear weapons, high precision weapons and logistics,” the expert noted.
It turns out that the public ideas about the a comparable power of the United States and China are not far from being true, the newspaper said in conclusion.