China restored : the Middle Kingdom looks to 2020 and beyond / Eric C. Anderson.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

China matters -- Harmonious world -- The "moderately prosperous society" -- Where next for the People's Liberation Army? -- Pondering Taiwan's future -- The China model.

In China Restored: The Middle Kingdom Looks to 2020 and Beyond, Eric C. Anderson challenges the widespread perception of China as a rising giant whose authoritarian program to supplant the United States as global hegemon poses a grave international threat. He weighs in against doomsday prophets such as Martin Jacques, who predicts that China's economy and diplomatic influence will equal those of the United States by 2025 and will eclipse them by a factor of two by 2050. Anderson, a player in Washington's China policy debates who enjoys deep access to Chinese intelligence sources, counters with a careful argument that Beijing's overriding aim is in fact to foster a stable global environment conducive to its economic development and regional hegemony based on legitimate political authority rather than coercion. China has "come of age" on the global stage. Like the 1988 Summer Olympics that heralded South Korea's arrival in the international arena, the 2008 games will ultimately be remembered as the moment Beijing resumed her rightful place in the sun. While U.S. businesses have long predicted this would be the case, American academicians and politicians have proven more reticent. A survey of recent academic and policy debates concerning China's future reveals fundamental differences over where the country is headed, Beijing's objectives in the coming 10 years, and what this all means for Washington. For some participants in this discussion China remains a developing nation struggling with demographic, economic, political, and security challenges that threaten the nation's very survival. On the flip side of the coin are those who declare China is a rising giant, a nation whose economy and diplomatic influence could eclipse the United States by 2025.