Abstract
National power is a vital part and an instrument of a state’s grand strategy (Wu Chunqiu, On Grand Strategy and the History of World Wars, Beijing: People’s Liberation Army Publishing House, 2002, p. 48.). Evaluation of national power has been a primary strategic research focus, as a state’s grand strategy is dependent on its national power and national objectives. In a word, research on grand strategy must be based on an objective evaluation of national power.
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Notes
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The Art of War: Laying Plans.
- 2.
Quoted from William C. Wohlforth, The Elusive Balance: Power and Perceptions during the Cold War, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1993, p. 9.
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Avery Goldstein, “Great expectations: Interpreting China’s Arrival”, International Security, Vol. 22, No. 3, Winter 1997/1998, pp. 36–73.
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See Hans J. Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace, Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 1995, pp. 208–220.
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As pointed out in The Art of War: Laying Plans, “Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple where the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose. “Making calculations in the temple” is equal to making “net assessment”. See Niu Xianzhong, A New Discussion on Chinese Strategic Thinking, Taipei: Rye Field Publishing Co., 2003, p. 43.
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The Art of War: Attack by Stratagem.
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The Art of War: Tactical Dispositions.
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- 41.
Huang Shuofeng, New Theory on Overall National Strength—On New China’s Overall National Strength, pp. 65–66.
- 42.
Wang Songfen, ed., Comparative Study of the Overall National Strength of Major Countries in the World, pp.63–72. In recent years, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has released its evaluations of China’s overall national strength, but no evaluation equation or calculation criterion has been offered. See Wang Ling, “Measuring Comprehensive National Power”, World Economics and Politics, Issue 6, 2006, pp. 45–51; Wang Ling, “Comparison of the Comprehensive National Strength of the Major Countries in the World”, in Li Shenming & Wang Yizhou eds., Annual Report on International Politics and Security (2006), Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press, 2006, pp. 240–268; Li Shaojun, “Comprehensive National Strength Assessment (2009)”, in Zhang Yuyan & Li Shaojun eds., Yellow Book of International Politics: Annual Report on International Politics and Security (2009), Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press, 2009, pp. 257–276.
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Huang Shuofeng, New Theory on Overall National Strength—On New China’s Overall National Strength, pp. 70–88.
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Hu Angang, China: Innovative Green Development, Beijing: China Renmin University Press, 2012, Chap. 8.
- 47.
Quoted from Wang Dehua & Wu Yang, eds., Dragon and Elephant—A Comparison of the Rise of China and India in the 21st Century, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press, 2003, “Preface”, p. 1.
- 48.
Li Fang, ed., China’s Comprehensive National Strength, p. 14.
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Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. V, People’s Publishing House, 1977, p. 28.
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Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Vol. II, People’s Publishing House, 1983, pp. 163–164.
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Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Vol. III, p. 226.
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See Hu Angang ed., Strategy of China, Hangzhou: Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, 2002, “Preface”, pp. 2–4.
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- 56.
There are divided opinions in the academia regarding the pros and cons of purchasing power parities (PPPs) and exchange rates. Notably, exchange rates are commonly used in international comparisons in preference to the PPP value, which indicate the relative prices of a country’s goods and services, and are influenced by such factors as the relative prices of tradable goods. However, exchange rates change daily, and may unexpectedly fluctuate, generating effects on economic growth. As such, they fail to reflect state disparity in terms of economic and social development. PPPs are the rates of currency conversion that equalize the purchasing power of different currencies by eliminating the differences in price levels between countries. In other words, PPPs show the ratio of prices in national currencies of the same good or service in different countries. As indicators of price level differences, PPPs are more observable than exchange rates. These two methods have both advantages and limitations. While PPPs measure the relative purchasing power of different currencies in their respective domestic markets, exchange rate measures the purchasing power of a unit of foreign currency in the foreign economy relative to that of an equivalent unit of domestic currency in the domestic economy. Therefore, the former is a better method with regard to the comparison of economies. See Wang Ling, “Comparison of the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) of Chinese and Foreign Economies”, The Journal of World Economy, Issue 7, 2000, pp. 12–18.
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Hu Angang et al., The 13th Five-Year Plan Strategy, Hangzhou: Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, 2015, p. 101.
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Dwight Perkins, “Institutional Challenges for the Economic Transition in Asia”, paper presented at Australian National University, September 2000, p. 48. Quoted from Joseph Nye, The Paradox of American Power: Why the World’s Only Superpower Can’t Go It Alone?, New York: Oxford University Press, 2002, p. 20.
- 65.
Greater military-civilian integration entails the coordinated and balanced development of economy and national defense. See Xu Qiliang, “Unswervingly Promoting the Integrated Development of Economy and National Defense”, People’s Daily, November 12, 2015, p. 6.
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Men, H. (2020). Evaluation of China’s National Power. In: China's Grand Strategy. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4257-2_2
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