Matthew Yglesias sees the upside of Chinese economic growth:
Whatâ??s more, beyond those narrow economic considerations, growth in China is strongly positive-sum in a number of other domains. A richer China will, for its own selfish reasons, be host to increased quantities of scientific and technical research that will increase the overall stock of human knowledge in a generally beneficial way. A richer China will also produce additional works of culture that will enrich our lives over and above whatever economic value they might have. Economic growth in China and other large poor countries is one of the most promising phenomena of our times and itâ??s a very big problem that people donâ??t generally understand it that way.
From the standpoint of human welfare alone the "rise" of Asia has been hugely beneficial. However, I don't think it's a "very big problem" to be wary about the prospects of an increasingly wealthy China. Yglesias cites numbers from Pew Research's study on global attitudes and what the study shows is that a lot of countries around China - India, Japan, South Korea, etc. - are similarly concerned about its rise (conversely there are Asian countries such as Pakistan and Indonesia that are less concerned). I don't think a zero-sum attitude about China's growth is warranted, but neither is faith that the positive-sum elements are so evident as to make serious conflict unthinkable.
(AP Photo)
