The New Cold War: a case of history repeating itself?

It is difficult to comprehend the incredible speed of China's development and the breath-taking changes this has brought about in terms of modernisation.Visiting the country in the early eighties, one was struck by its ageing transport system, basic domestic air service, its rudimentary road systems, high levels of poverty, ageing factories and the lack of industrialisation of agriculture.The absolute opposite is true of today's China.One is struck by the gleaming spires of glass and steel in every major city, its vast airline network, the unabashed affluence, its modern roads and rail system -especially its showcase maglev train from Shanghai's airport.In 1976, two years before Deng Xiaoping announced an open door policy, China's economy was shrinking rather than expanding at a rate of -1.5 per cent and the overall size of its economy was just $154 billion in terms of GDP.Although economic take off took some time to manifest after China actually opened -once it lifted off, its growth was exponential.Defying predictions that such vertiginous growth was unsustainable in the long term, China managed to generate a real growth rate of around 10 per cent every year over a period spanning more than three decades. 1 This has meant that the size of its economy has doubled every 7-8 years reaching an incredible $17.79 trillion in 2023. 2 One of the main reasons for Deng's decision to permit private enterprise and to open the country to foreign investment and greater trade was the failure of the Soviet style centralised state economy -greatly exacerbated by self-induced political turmoil and misguided economic initiatives.The hope was that this investment would stimulate the economy and help 1