ABSTRACT
Deng Xiaoping’s economic and political reforms which began in 1978 brought historic changes to China, arguably positioning it to regain early in the twenty-first century the greatness Mao Zedong and many other nationalist leaders only dreamed of. Modern China’s key deficiency has always been economic development. But with an ongoing economic growth rate close to 10 per cent yearly, China now has the potential to become the world’s largest economy in the medium term. With a strong economic and technological base combined with a large population, China could become the strongest power in the region, if not the world. If this occurs, the current international order in the Asia-Pacific will be com-pletely overturned. Anticipating its political ascension, Beijing’s foreign and defence policies are changing, and will continue to change, to reflect China’s new status in the post-Cold War international and regional distribution of power.
