I get the impression that a lot of this obsession over how China views American power is far more about US insecurity than anything else. In-so-much as the Chinese view long-term trends as being in their favor, they look at factors far beyond a year or 2's GDP growth. That's why I always felt it was quite silly for US foreign-policy apparatchiks to get their panties in a twist last year with their "our economy's a mess, China's looking down on us!" nonsense. Its also why I can't help but chuckle at the flip-side "we're back b*tches!" and how Zhongnanhai is now collectively shivering at all this "renewed American resolve". Ryan Haas, usually a much better pundit/researcher, is one of the more renowned such bed-wetters, although I have seen such views espoused by members of Biden's team as well (Doshi, Sullivan, etc).
China views its 4.5x population advantage, its vast and solid trading networks and its higher potential growth rate (owing to its distance from the Tech frontier) as the sources of its confidence. Not the fact that America's economy shrank by 5% last year. Likewise, they won't start cowering just because America's 2021 rebound growth pushes close to their 5-7% range.
As a rule of thumb, I tend to discount geopolitical/IR theories if they can be condensed down to childish tv tropes. And this particular fable is a Made-in-the-USA doozy. It wouldnt be out of place in a Superman sketch: Superman is down. Bought low by the villain's deviousness and his own fatal character flaws. But then he draws on his infinite reserve of innate goodness, moral iron and the villain's hubris to snatch a come-from-behind win!
I get the impression that a lot of this obsession over how China views American power is far more about US insecurity than anything else. In-so-much as the Chinese view long-term trends as being in their favor, they look at factors far beyond a year or 2's GDP growth. That's why I always felt it was quite silly for US foreign-policy apparatchiks to get their panties in a twist last year with their "our economy's a mess, China's looking down on us!" nonsense. Its also why I can't help but chuckle at the flip-side "we're back b*tches!" and how Zhongnanhai is now collectively shivering at all this "renewed American resolve". Ryan Haas, usually a much better pundit/researcher, is one of the more renowned such bed-wetters, although I have seen such views espoused by members of Biden's team as well (Doshi, Sullivan, etc).
China views its 4.5x population advantage, its vast and solid trading networks and its higher potential growth rate (owing to its distance from the Tech frontier) as the sources of its confidence. Not the fact that America's economy shrank by 5% last year. Likewise, they won't start cowering just because America's 2021 rebound growth pushes close to their 5-7% range.
As a rule of thumb, I tend to discount geopolitical/IR theories if they can be condensed down to childish tv tropes. And this particular fable is a Made-in-the-USA doozy. It wouldnt be out of place in a Superman sketch: Superman is down. Bought low by the villain's deviousness and his own fatal character flaws. But then he draws on his infinite reserve of innate goodness, moral iron and the villain's hubris to snatch a come-from-behind win!