NEWSWEEK COVER: China's Century

NEWSWEEK COVER: China's Century

China's Rise as Powerful Global Force May Challenge U.S. Pre-Eminence, Writes Fareed Zakaria

As Beijing Prepares for Olympics, Planners Also Deal With Daily Protests, Worry About Mass Unrest on International TV

Rise of Chinese Cinema Brings New Glamour to Hollywood

NEW YORK, May 1 /PRNewswire/ -- China's rise is no longer a prediction. It is a fact, writes Newsweek International Editor Fareed Zakaria in a special report in the current issue of Newsweek. "It is already the world's fastest-growing large economy, and the second largest holder of foreign-exchange reserves, mainly dollars. It has the world's largest army (2.5 million men) and the fourth largest defense budget, which is rising by more than 10 percent annually. Whether or not it takes over the United States economically, which looks to me like a distant prospect, it is the powerful new force on the global scene."

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050501/NYSU006 )

In the May 9 Newsweek cover, "China's Century" (on newsstands Monday, May 2), Zakaria examines China's astounding growth and analyzes all the strategic issues that come with it, including challenging U.S. pre-eminence. "For centuries, the rest of the world was a stage for the ambitions and interests of the West's great powers," Zakaria writes. "China's rise, along with that of India and the continuing weight of Japan, represents the third great shift in global power -- the rise of Asia." He continues, "Inevitably, the China challenge looms largest for the United States. Historically, when the world's leading power is challenged by a rising one, the two have had a difficult relationship. And while neither side will ever admit it publicly, both China and the United States worry and plan for trouble. To say this is not to assume war or even conflict, but merely to note that there is likely to be tension between the two countries."

Also in the special report, Beijing Bureau Chief Melinda Liu reports on how Beijing is preparing for the 2008 Olympics, including the possibility of having mass unrest on live international TV. Chinese embassies around the world are already besieged by human-rights activists demanding big changes before the Games and street demonstrations in China are practically everyday events lately. Beijing vice mayor Liu Jingmin tells Newsweek when officials dreamed up catchphrases like "the green Olympics" and "the people's Olympics," no one guessed the public would take the words so deeply to heart. Many ordinary Chinese now believe they should have more say in how the place is run.

"Their political sense is maturing," says Chen Gang, mayor of Beijing's Chaoyang district, where many of the 2008 events are to be held. "The Games are changing our society."

Also in the special report:

* Senior Writer Sean Smith reports on how Chinese cinema has brought new fun, glamour, humor and sex appeal to Hollywood. Chinese films such as "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers," and the recently released "Kung Fu Hustle" have all scored big at the box office. Americans, who historically have avoided movies with subtitles as if they were homework, seem willing to make exceptions, Smith reports. "I think it's generational," says Michael Barker, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics. "Today kids IM each other, and they read the scroll along the bottom of the screen on Fox News, so they don't have the problem with subtitles that their parents do."

* Special Correspondent William Lee Adams reports that as China rushes toward superpower status, American students are rushing to learn Chinese. The State Department has designated Chinese a "critical language," but the most recent data show that only 24,000 students in grades 7 to 12 study Chinese, a language spoken by 1.3 billion people worldwide. (More than 1 million students learn French, a language spoken by 75 million people). In the Chicago public schools, enrollment in Chinese classes has skyrocketed from 500 students in 1999 to nearly 3,500 students this year-and most of these students are Caucasian, African-American, or Hispanic. In the Santa Clara County, Calif., district, enrollment has quadrupled during the same period.

* Special Correspondent Sarah Schafer reports on Chinese appliance maker Haier, which built a factory in Camden, S.C., as part of the company's efforts to build a global brand. "Now even the government is paying attention to developing China's own famous brand," says Haier chairman Zhang Ruimin, an avid Jack Welch fan and influential member of the Chinese Communist Party. "It's not whether you want to or not. It's a must for [Chinese] companies, because we feel the pressure from the market." The firm was more than $10 million in debt in the early 1980s. Today it's one of the world's top five producers of household appliances, with 30,000 employees and more than $12 billion in revenue. Beijing aims to have at least 50 companies in the Fortune 500 by 2010. Last year 15 made the list, but China still doesn't have a household name to call its own. Many people think that Haier (pronounced Higher) could be the first. "Haier is the best brand, without a doubt, in China," said Wang Jing, general manager for Beijing Famous Brand Evaluation Co., a private firm. "The story of Haier is a good example to other Chinese companies."

* A photo essay by Photographer Paolo Pellegrin for Newsweek entitled, "Prayers From the Shadows," shows how worshipers in China are coming out of hiding, but still must tread carefully.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7693580/site/newsweek/

(Read entire cover package, go to http://www.newsweek.com/.)

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050501/NYSU006 AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/ AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN1 PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com Source: Newsweek

CONTACT: Jan Angilella of Newsweek, +1-212-445-5638

Web site: http://www.newsweek.msnbc.com/

------- Profile: Ent