China: From a despised poor country to powerful state in only 74 years

When former President Uhuru Kenyatta met with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, April 25, 2019. [File, Standard]

Few countries can boast of rapid politically-driven socio economic transformation the way China can within a time space of 74 years. From October 1, 1949 China systematically emerged from being dominated, despised and underdeveloped to being a powerful state. It is second to the United States in terms of economic power. In terms of reorienting global geopolitics, however, China surpassed the United States which is not doing very well.

Washington appears to be stuck in the old Cold War bullying mind-frame of 'the American way or no way', But China struggles to ingratiate itself to every corner of the Earth by pushing an appealing common human agenda. To achieve this in 74 years, China adopted a winning political strategy to outwit others, be they the supposed ideological allies like the Soviet Union or rivals like the Conceptual West.