wozelbeak said:
i think facts like the ones below make them a super power.
it aint all about dollars.
Military manpower:
CHINA availability: males age 15-49: 379,524,688 (2004 est.)
USA availability: males age 18-49: 67,742,879
females age 18-49: 67,070,144 (2005 est.)
woz
A simple lookup on the CIA world book to show the availible foot soldiers is hardly a guage if a country is a Super Power.
If that was a case, you could hardly say that the USA was the Largest power then, could you? Nevermind Britain back in the good old days.
Facts such as their outdated Navy, 50% of their submarines still running on disel, only 50 out of their 400 small torpedo boats being seen by the west as a threat compared to western equivilents. The backbone of their Navy is only made up of Frigates and Destroyers with only one Aircraft carrier (10,000tonnes, half the size of the British, never mind the US's 100,000tonnes), and all outdated compared to the Western worlds equivelent. Their Air force is in a similar state.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/china/navy.htm
Bigger numbers isn't always better.
Now, thats what I call ships... And we're not a super power...
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/europe/type45.htm (Getting lauched in a few days just down the road from me, I'll be going to it)
And this is what you call an Aircraft Carrier, not finished the Design yet though...
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/europe/cvf.htm
I'm not arguing the fact that China has a powerfull military, but so far, only powerfull within it's own borders.
iamroot said:
Pardon me for saying this but I hear this from Americans and Europeans all the time and it seems to me like denial. Economically, China has leapfrogged into the world's top 5 economies. One must understand that the US has the advantage of being economically stable for a long time, unlike China who was still doing stupid stuff under the Cultural Revolution a few decades ago.
No doubt that the US is more powerful than each of the European nations as well so there's the EU to counter that. And while the US is a superpower, it also has one of the world's worst reputations along with its citizens. I don't stay in the US so I've had the chance to see how hated the Americans are in many parts of the world. There are many other factors other than money and millitary to being a superpower.
I'm not in denial, and yes, I've said that China is on the verge of a Super Power before, Look at my previous posts. It's not it the Top 5 as of yet, Try 6th. And that, along with it still being a poor country (GDP per Capital, Low buying power), an outdated and restricted military force (Credit due, there upgrading), and an aging population (that will hamper it's economy in the future) it is NOT yet a Super Power.
Here's the Definition. Still a few big issues in it China needs to sort out.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_power
Can I also point out that if the EU also pulls finger and get's it's written constitution ever sorted out, you will have the 3rd,4th,5th and 7th largest economies in the world combined with a 3rd the population of China. It would economically be the worlds largest power.
