AMSTERDAM/ROME, May 05 (IPS) – For several years, a fast growing and assertive China has been challenging the USA’s global dominance. China’s GDP, taking into account differences in purchasing power, is now greater than that of the USA; its military spending has been expanding rapidly and exceeds by wide margins that of other countries except the USA with which it is catching up; it is the manufacturing power house of the world; it is quickly moving up the technological ladder; and it is the key trading partner for an increasing number of countries. All this is creating tensions with the USA and its key allies.

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