Richard Hanania: US has to be realistic about China’s growing power

Richard Hanania, president of the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology, said Thursday that the U.S. must realize it cannot indefinitely maintain its global leadership role in the face of China’s growing power and influence.

Hanania told Hill.TV’s “Rising” that observers of China have long assumed that the country would fall victim to instability brought on by its rapid economic growth. That assumption is wrong, he said, and China’s growth may overtake the U.S. as the world’s largest economy.

“There’s still this idea in Washington that the United States can do something about this, that there’s a power shift that’s happening and the U.S. can confront China and sort of maintain its global leadership role … there’s no reason to think that,” Hanania said, noting that some estimates say China’s economy will be nearly twice the size of the U.S. by 2050.

“The idea that you’re going to have a greater say in the affairs of [China] and its relationship with its neighbors is just sort of a fantasy. So I think we’ve been deluding ourselves on many fronts,” Hanania added. “You know, the question is: Can the U.S. live with this in the long run?”

“Yes, China’s getting a lot stronger and I think, you know, I think we could live with it. I think we just got to be realistic,” he said.