Beijing may lack the ambition needed to develop a global military presence that rivals the US
China is an economic power-house, but they may find it to be too much of a burden and too expensive to be a world superpower. When you look at how they are revamping their country, who wouldn't be more tempted to spend the money on themselves and have a nice environment to live, rather than having the world's biggest military many times over.
China has not fought a war since it clashed with Vietnam in 1979 and boasts of its “peaceful rise”. Unlike the US, Beijing has also historically been very reluctant to promise to defend its friends and allies. China has only one overseas military base in Djibouti in east Africa, compared with hundreds of US military facilities overseas.
Financial Times
They're also a long way from being a decaying empire.
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