[Gokiburi]

What goes around, comes around. It'S been posted already, China's trade surplus is only worth what the debtors are making it worth. China'S rise to an economic superpower has been - in some respect - similar to Japan's post-WWII rise. Back in the sixties 'Made in Japan' was synonymous for crappy reverse-engineered copies of 'western' technology, especially in the sector of consumer electronics. But Japan learned fast, and while 'western' CEO's were fast asleep, smiling condescendingly about these odd folks from far away , MITI was born... A poster displayed in Detroit in the eighties : 'Are you hungry? Eat your Mazda!', says it all. Now westerners were flocking to Japanese factories and plants - kanban system, quality control, what have you... They learned fast too, they had too, their jobs were at stake.
China started the same, within the framework of globalisation, western AND Japanese firms turned to China for cheap labour. Wait another ten years and China will look for cheap labour for is own brands. So far the similarities.

Differences: Geologically speaking, Japan is a drowned mountain range perched on top of a very lively tectonic plate and has no raw materials worth mentioning. China is one heck of a slab of real estate fairly well stocked with some very sought after raw materials ( lithium, for example ). Japan is a democracy, China isn't. Whereas democratic leaders often make decisions that are geared more towards getting re-elected or staying on power ( thus often producing utter bullshit ), China has no need for such luxuries. While western politicians still play the good uncle on their trips to Africa ( still one of the continents with large untapped deposits of raw materials ), Chinese businesses and trade delegations move quietly yet very efficiently to secure access to their needs.

One the military side, China's got nukes since the late fifties, a standing army so numerous that it - so it is said - could cause an earthquake that would flatten Moscow if all of em hopped off the Great Wall at the same time... China'S also still a bit sore about Unca Chiang hightailing it to Formosa aka Taiwan, but Unca Sam is keeping an eye on that one, so a little saber-rattling now and then is pretty much it. But if China sneezes, the littler powers around it do get jumpy.

Will China rule the world ?

No.

It already does.