"If you want a simplified view of the global economy, it will be the struggle between the US and China for capital and for physical resources,' he said.
History has shown that any country that has a growing demand for commodities like oil, as China does, would have to adopt a more assertive foreign policy that would bring it into intense competition with the US in the Middle East, Asia and Latin America.
He noted that the present model of managing the world economy was a US-centric one, in which the US accounted for much of global growth.
But the world is moving towards an economic duo - namely, the US and China, as they have the largest markets. Their growth is 'absolutely essential' for development in the rest of the world.
However, for that to happen, there has to be 'very significant restructuring of global economic organisations' that gives China a voice in them, he said.
He called the G-8, a grouping of eight advanced world economies, an absurdity as China had no presence in it, in contrast to smaller economies like Canada and Italy.
"
straitstimes.asia1.com.sg |
