China Vs India Economic Emergence
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The last 20 years have witnessed the economic emergence of several countries, which are considered today to be “pivotal states”, “regional powers”, and “emerging powers” in world politics. These emerging powers encompass countries such as China, India both have experienced rapid economic growth and that they seek to influence the global economy and world politics to a greater degree than they did before their rise this is what the have in common. Chinas and Indias foreign policies have been subject to major changes due to the countries increasing demand of energy resources. In order to meet their demands in the energy sector, both anchor countries have been enhancing their relations with resource rich countries in Africa. Both countries economies are growing at an unprecedented pace due to high economic growth based on rapid industrializations the energy consumption of both countries is raising fast. They have become leading exporters and lenders (especially China to the US) as well as holders of currency reserves, and they are expected to surpass the GNP of the G7 industrialized countries by the year 2040. (Harpers Magazine, Vol. 306, No. 1836.). China and India under the rubric of emerging powers dominate their neighbors in terms of power over resources, that is, population, territory, military capacity and gross domestic product. In addition, they articulate a wish to change the distribution of power in the international system and to assume leadership roles in global governance. In order to maintain global public goods such as economic stability and interdependence as well as sustainable liberalization according to the ideas and values dominant in the transatlantic community, as the Financial Times has pointed out, the rise of China and India “heralds a transformation of the global economic and political order as significant as that brought about by the industrial revolution or by the subsequent rise of the US.” (Economic dynamo. Financial Times, 6-1-10.) The struggle is both global and internal as each national economy is remolded to fit into the emerging global mode of production. In my paper, I will discuss the political history of the two countries, the economic power, the nuclear competition between them and the military capabilities and also the future of these countries in terms of cooperation and power struggle.
Firstly, I will like to discuss briefly the political aspects of both countries starting with China. The official name of the state is “Republic of China”. During the 1950s and 1960s; it was common to refer to it as “Nationalist China” to differentiate it from “Communist China”. On 29 December 1911, Sun Yat-Sen was elected president by the Nanjing assembly representing seventeen provinces. On 1 January 1912, he was officially inaugurated and pledged “to overthrow the despotic Manchu government, consolidate the Republic of China and plan for the welfare of the people”. (chinahistory.com) According to Sun Yat-sens theory, the KMT was to rebuild China in three phases: a phase of military rule through which the KMT would take over power and reunite China by force; a phase of political tutelage; and finally a constitutional democratic phase. Sun however lacked the military support to overthrow the Qing Dynasty. Realizing this, he handed over the presidency to Yuan Shikai, the imperial general, who then forced the last emperor Puyi to abdicate. After Suns death in March 1925, Chiang Kai-shek became the leader of the KMT. In 1926, Chiang led the Northern Expedition through China with the intention of defeating the warlords and unifying China. Chiang decided to strike first and purged the Communists, killing thousands of them. Mao Zedong was the architect and founding father of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) from its establishment in 1949, and held authoritarian control over the nation until his death in 1976. His theoretical contribution to Marxism-Leninism, along with his military strategies and brand of political policies, are now collectively known as Maoism. He is officially held in high regard in China as a great revolutionary, political strategist, military mastermind, and savior of the nation. Deng Xiaoping was a reformer who led China towards a market economy. Deng worked in Tibet and other southwestern regions to consolidate Communist control. The political status of the Republic of China is a contentious issue. The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) claims that the ROC government is illegitimate, referring to it as the “Taiwan Authority”.The ROC, however, with its own constitution, independently elected president and a large army, views itself as an independent sovereign state.
India with the official name Republic of India is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India has become one of the fastest growing major economies, and is considered a newly industrialized country; however, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, illiteracy, corruption and inadequate public health. A nuclear weapons state and a regional power, it has the third-largest standing army in the world, and ranks tenth in military expenditure among nations. India is a parliamentary republic with a multi-party system; it has six recognized national parties, including the Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and more than 40 regional parties. Gradually annexed by the British East India Company from the early 18th century and colonized by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence which was marked by non-violent resistance and led by Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi, had been a prominent leader of the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa, and had been a vocal opponent of basic discrimination and abusive labor treatment as well as suppressive police control such as the Rowlatt Acts. In the Republic of Indias first three general elections, in 1951, 1957 and 1962, the Jawaharlal Nehru-led Congress won easy victories. On Nehrus death in 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri briefly became prime minister; he was succeeded, after his own unexpected death in 1966, by Indira Gandhi, who went on to lead the Congress to election victories in 1967. In 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated and succeeded by her son Rajiv Gandhi, who won an easy victory in the general elections later that year. The Congress was voted out again in 1989, when a National Front coalition, led by the newly formed Janata Dal, in alliance with the Left Front, won the elections; that government too proved short-lived, lasting just under two years.