Based on the experience of the Warsaw Pact countries, we knew what to expect in a world dominated by the USSR: collective farms; minimal private property; no First Amendment rights; no political freedom; and an economic system in which the needs of the USSR predominated. It was a terrifying, and therefore unifying, vision.
There is no evidence that China aspires to anything like that; the Chinese feel too strongly about their own exceptionalism to dictate terms to the rest of the world. What does the CCP actually want? As far as I can tell, here is the list:
- COMPLETE SOVEREIGNTY OVER TAIWAN: The Chinese claim to Taiwan is not as strongly based in history as the government insists, but to Xi, the island is to China as Northern Ireland is to the Irish Republic–a sore thumb that needs to be eliminated.
- SOUTHEAST ASIA IS AN UNDISPUTED CHINESE SPHERE OF INFLUENCE: Japan and South Korea would be permitted to keep their economic and political systems, but would no longer be independent actors in foreign policy.
- ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY: No more long and vulnerable supply lines.
- KEEP THE REST OF THE WORLD VULNERABLE AND DEPENDENT: This particularly applies to the EU.
- REWRITE INTERNATIONAL LAW AND REFASHION INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS TO BE MORE FAVORABLE TO CHINA: This project is already ongoing.
- LEADERSHIP IN ALL TECH FIELDS: While the Chinese economy as a whole is struggling, the country is meeting the standards first set out in “Made in China 2025.”