Congratulations China! Officially a ‘Superpower’

In the 70s of the last century, the Vietnam War and its aftermaths had pronounced China’s abandonment of an intransigent global strategy revolving around radical global revolution, and its emergence into a state of ‘a global modus vivendi’ (Baudrillard, 1994).

 “It marked the arrival of China to a peaceful coexistence. The nonintervention of China obtained and secured after many years, China’s apprenticeship to a global modus vivendi, the shift from a global strategy of revolution to one of shared forces and empires, the transition from a radical alternative to political alternation in a system now essentially regulated (the normalization of Peking-Washington relations) {my italics}.” (Baudrillard 36)

The Chinese leader at the time, Deng Xiaoping had put this strategy in a most articulate manner, “Who cares if a cat is black or white, as long as it catches the mice,” (Spar & Oi 6).

 Hitherto—notwithstanding Chinese economic growth, global presence, and technological advancement—making the elevation unto a superpower status—namely, on grounds of nuclear capability—that is, attaining strategic nuclear parity with the United States and Russia (which per se implies China’s incorporation into the Mutually Assured Destruction [MAD] configuration)—remains unfeasible for the Asian giant.

On Saturday 15 May 2021, the world marveled at China’s greatness. In fact, China went beyond thinking outside the box: China’s progressive thinking went beyond the planet’s atmosphere, all the way into that of the red planet, Mars, and hit a home-run. 

The Chinese Zhurong rover has successfully landed on Mars,

“The successful touchdown is a remarkable achievement, given the difficult nature of the task [my formatting].

Only the Americans [my formatting] have really mastered landing on Mars until now. All other countries that have tried have either crashed or lost contact soon after reaching the surface.” (Amos)

The Russians commended the historic Chinese accomplishment,

“The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, said the success augured well for its future cooperation with China.” (Amos)

Were the race for space a football league, it would have been one in which none besides the United States of America and the Russian Federation has ever made it to the finals since its inception in the 1950s. And, along came the Asian giant!

In absolute terms, there are only two domains wherein the U.S. and Russia transcend to another dimension of superiority vis-á-vis all other actors in the international system—making them the world’s de facto superpowers—: nuclear power and the race for space. 

My conviction is that the United States and Russia would never allow any other country to acquire commensurate nuclear capability with theirs—especially that they, themselves, have been reducing and limiting their deployable warheads thereof ever since 1994 via START (the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty). It is a prohibited sphere of power; where trespassing onto would trigger the Third World War. In a word, it’s the foremost ‘thou shalt not!’ in the International Relations bible.  

As for space, it appears that the race is still in its adolescence. 

For the truth of the matter is this:

Zhurong’s touchdown on Mars has settled the debate, once and for all, over China’s superpower status. For, with respect to the race for space, China has successfully surpassed one superpower and tied for the first place with the other. 

Congratulations China! 

Reference

Amos, Jonathan. “China Lands Its Zhurong Rover on Mars.” BBC News, 15 May 2021, www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-57122914. 

Baudrillard, Jean. Simulacra and Simulation. Michigan: the University of Michigan Press, 1994.