I enjoyed reading George Magnus’s article (Why Peak China may finally have arrived, 11 August). However, focusing on peak economic growth misses the bigger picture and underestimates China in ways that could weaken western policy responses. China’s central goal is national power, and we are far from its peak national power.
The Chinese economic miracle has taken place under the US-led global system. China built factories along its coast, filled container ships, and sent its goods to developed markets, effectively plugging into an existing network of shipping routes, ports and railways. However, just as easily as China joined this system, so too can it be forcefully unplugged.
