Multipolar not bipolar world

China should adhere to anti-hegemony stance, but ties with the US will be more interdependent than confrontational

Now China is the world's second-largest economy, some have argued a bipolar world is more likely than a multipolar one. However, China should not seek to establish a bipolar world.

Choosing not to seek hegemony demonstrates China's foresight and clear thinking. After its reform and opening-up, as its national power has improved, China has repeatedly clarified that its peaceful path of development and not seeking hegemony are strategic choices.

This is a judgment based on historical experience of a multipolar world, recognition of the principle that win-win cooperation is the inevitable global trend and the correct road to defend China's national interests.

A bipolar world would mean other countries would have to make a choice between China and the United States, which will at times hold opposite stances on important international issues and compete with each other in an all-round way. This situation would be no different than the competition between two superpowers. There is no necessity or rationality for China to strive for hegemony or to take the lead, so its strategic choice should be a multipolar world.

In fact, even if China did want to create a bipolar world, it would not be able to realize it.

The US' hegemony is decided by its economic, military and soft power. It provides military, economic and "moral" assistance to those who support its hegemony. It was only after the US' economic power dwarfed others that it was able to consolidate its hegemony.

The situation today is very different from the one in which the US rose to prominence. The new historical conditions mean the possibility of hegemony is decreasing. With the development of globalization, the democratization of international politics and global information network, peace and development have become the dominant themes. And with the collective rise of a group of powers, the US' hegemony is declining. Relations among these rising powers, and relations between them and the US, are a combination of cooperation and competition.