By most estimates China will soon be a superpower, and people assume that as a superpower it will behave just as the United States has. Martin Jacques disagreed and pointed out that:

• China and other western superpowers have different histories. While the West expanded and colonized other countries, China never did, even though for most of its history it had the capability to do so.
• China didn’t ignore its neighbours. It demanded tributes from them as a symbolic acknowledgement of its preeminence in the region.
• This is partly because the country is so big and complicated, that China has generally been focused more on internal issues than external ones.
• There are other differences in culture. Western explorers who went and lived in other countries are honoured and admired. In China they are seen as outcasts.

Read more of what Jacques thinks the future will look like under China over here.

Source: BBC