It has become evident that it is difficult to measure the power accumulated by China over the last two decades as that country has risen to the status of a world-class power, predicted to surpass even the US in the future. The ten authors of this book are contributing to the already vast collection of studies on the emergence of China in the club of powerful nations. But they do so with an accent on the complex and dynamic motivations behind that rise. Many countries in the past, while seeking status as a world power, have had to adopt hostile acts in the pursuit of power, leading to war and tragedy. The editors of China Rising say they do not believe that China has embarked on the same road. They seek to answer the nagging question about whether China inevitably will have to clash with the US or other world powers in order to get its place in the sun, as many military analysts have predicted. One way to measure Chinese power is to look at economic statistics. From 1979, the year China opened the gates to market economics, to 2003, China's economy grew at an annual rate of 8 to 9 percent, or three or four times faster than many Western nations. Its foreign trade volume exceeded 1 trillion dollars in 2004 and its foreign currency reserves reached 300 billion dollars in 2003, up from 10 billion dollars back in 1990. The economic statistics are impressive and the numbers are getting bigger and bigger, but they alone do not measure China's rise in power. Its foreign policy, participation in international organizations and domestic reform all contribute to its rise.

Fei-ling Wang notes that despite its status as a great world power, a "persistent sense of frustration, insecurity, and even victimization still seems to color the Chinese national self-identity and its relations with Western powers." Wang cites Chinese analysts who ranked their country third in economic power behind the US and Japan, and fourth in military power behind the US, Japan and the United Kingdom. But they also ranked China sixth in the world as a comprehensive national power. He explains that China fails to reach a comprehensive national program because economic development has not been carried out equally in all parts of the vast country and that not all provinces are unified behind a single economic program based on the Western concept of market economy and globalization. The author believes that conservative forces and risk-averse policy makers have resisted demands for progress in economic development and political reform.

Yong Deng says China's international status has gone through significant changes since the end of the Cold War, but has not brought the Communist Party and the state any closer to reaching the status of power dominated by the US and other powerful democratic countries.

Globalization, on the other hand, has so far helped China to move out of its backwardness and onto the world economic and political scene, says Thomas G. Moore. He says former President Jiang Zemin squarely identified China's national identity with global economic competition. Globalization in a way has rejuvenated the country, he says.

Another way to measure China's rise is to examine its participation in international organizations. Jianwei Wang says Beijing has become a full-fledged member of the international community and has adopted multilateralism as the main thrust of its foreign policy and played a leading role in economic liberalization and integration. One particular observation is that China's use of multilateralism is closely related to its opposition to "perceived US hegemonism and unilateralism."

"China firmly believes that the new reality of world politics needs some norms and principles that are different from those that regulated interstate relations during the Cold War period," says Wang. Other authors in the book discuss China's US policies. But Yun-han Chu writes on the subject of Beijing's handling of Taiwan, which he says remains the "exclusive and prominent policy domains" reserved for the paramount leader of the Chinese Communist Party. Current President Hu Jintao has exerted pressure on the US to keep Taiwanese leaders in line with the status quo and not drift into independence or re-write the constitution.