Frienemy?

by Ka Lee Angel Lee

For centuries, nations have been working hard on maintaining the status quo. However, due to the strengths and weaknesses of countries as well as the inevitable outside forces of opportunities and threats, some countries rise while others fall. In the recent decades, the emergence of China has been a controversial topic for leaders in the world. The United States, the strongest nation in the world who has long realized China’s remarkable development, regarded China as a “Frienemy”.

The most boiling debate is on China’s evolvement from an agricultural country to one of the world’s most prosperous trade centers. The expansion of power of China is inevitable and irreversible. It is no denial that China’s ambition has threatened many countries especially the United States. Many American politicians have been warning the world to exercise more protective policies against China and some even think that China’s rise will endanger the U.S. economy. However, in the past decade, there has been a growth of interdependence of China and the United States. The United States, being the richest country in the world, is definitely China’s prime trade partner. China, the fastest-growing country, can also provide the U.S. financial assistance it needs. Both countries hold interests of each other so tightly that cooperation is the only way to benefit themselves.

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