Worried About Chinese Hegemony? You’ve Misdiagnosed Everything

Financial Times, which is the best paper of record on the global economy, has a new piece called, “China’s Blueprint for an Alternative World Order.”

I don’t like it. It subtly raises alarm bells at China’s bid to curry influence in the global South and articulate a (hollow) vision for its place in the world. It takes Xi Jinping at his word only when he says things that help confirm the worst interpretations of China’s intentions. It’s emblematic of a larger problem in the China-watching pundit spaces of the US and UK (and Australia and New Zealand and Canada…)

I’m going to keep this critique very short, but the bottom line is this: For the foreseeable future, China cannot conquer, or “dominate,” or establish “hegemony” over the world.

To be worried about this—as much of Western opinion so obviously does—is a sign of not understanding what’s going on with Sino-US rivalry.

So let me explain.