> They are occupying the area to assert their claim. I don't see how that would change. They can stop expanding military bases in contested areas for a start.

> They are occupying the area to assert their claim. I don't see how that would change. They can stop expanding military bases in contested areas for a start. That's already a big change in policy. > A period of absolute Western dominance that started almost 500 years ago is coming to an end. What makes China a superpower and Japan not? What economic indicators are you using? Or the UK, France, and India for that matter? Nuclear powers that are able to flatten the population centres of countries on command. Treating 'The West' as a monolithic entity is just the mirror image of neo-orientalism. In terms of alignment, the ideological chasm between the 1st World / 2nd World during the cold war was larger than the gap between China and the other advanced economies currently. China, having reformed its economy, is more similar to Spain, which resolved a lot of its geopolitical problems after the transition to democracy in the late 70s and early 80s. The only baggage that China has in terms of geopolitics is the constant navel gazing at the 1800s and Qing's humiliation by the colonial powers. This is a Chinese nationalist narrative that is stoked by the party, but one that doesn't resonate at all with the younger generations.