China’s ambitious plans, including its “One Belt, One Road” initiative – a strategy to revive the land and maritime Silk Roads dating back to the days of Marco Polo – and the massive overhaul of the world’s largest army, seem to bode well for the future of the world’s second-largest economy.
Yet one seasoned China watcher, David Shambaugh, who has a reputation for delivering sober-minded observations, is not convinced.
In his new book, the 203-page China’s Future, published in March by Polity, Shambaugh argues that China is in a state of “atrophy” and “decline”, which will continue if no major political reform takes place in the near future.[Source]