I agree with your premise here and might be taking it off topic but Western media tends to portray China striving to be a global power but, I would propose, are

I agree with your premise here and might be taking it off topic but Western media tends to portray China striving to be a global power but, I would propose, aren't they already there? They're a key manufacturer and exporter in the world economy, are making inroads in terms of military prowess, and has some of the biggest influence in their region and probably soon, via the soft power infrastructure projects, in Africa as well. The US and Russia are still playing games in the Middle East but there's not a day that goes by that you don't see some news out of China.