Chinese Economy and Politics of South China Sea

Speaker: Prof. Partha Sen, Visiting Professor, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo

Introduction: Shri Suhas Borker

China has been remarkable in its ability to pull millions out of poverty in an unprecedented short span of time. It now faces a middle income trap – one that a lot of other economies have faced before. China, instead of focusing on how to escape that trap, wants to build a financial capitalist structure. Is that possible? A Communist Party sponsored financial growth? In the meantime, it has also raised the political temperature by engaging in provocative behavior in the South China Sea. If this attempt is to supplant the US, it is not winning any friends in the region. China’s economics and politics are united by hubris. This is bad news for those who see China playing a positive role in changing the existing global order