To many, the notion that China is a faltering power is laughable.
Whether as a result of the "Middle-income trap," the imminent prospect of "Growing old before growing rich," the suffocating effects of the ever-more intrusive and pervasive surveillance state, or all three, China will soon peak.
While from an American perspective this might seem like good news, a faltering China might also be a dangerous China.
For one thing, a China that realizes that its reach has exceeded its grasp is likely to do everything in its power to lock in whatever geopolitical advantages it currently enjoys, before its ability to Sino-form the world begins to wane.
Such a strategy would necessarily entail preventing China from racking up wins in the arena of great power politics.
The final pillar of a prudent China strategy must be to anticipate and mitigate the turbulence that will accompany China's stalling rise.
As the Chinese master put it: "Surround them on three sides, leaving one side open, to show them a way to life. Show them a way to life so that they will not be in the mood to fight to the death." That is how to manage a China that is not a rising power but a faltering one.
https://thefederalist.com/2020/12/22/china-is-not-rising-its-faltering/
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