Did the US & the West really underestimate the rise of China? The answer is ‘yes’.
Former U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns has acknowledged that Washington underestimated China’s growing power across infrastructure, technology, military capabilities and long-term strategic planning. He highlighted China’s large STEM talent pool, with 34% of first-year university students reportedly studying engineering or STEM fields, compared with 5.6% in the United States. Burns also pointed to the PLA’s military capabilities and Beijing’s sustained diplomatic engagement with Africa as evidence of a broader, long-term strategy. He argued that China’s technological, military and economic strength is greater than commonly perceived and warned that the United States can no longer afford to underestimate it.
