China’s Dual Position in the Capitalist World Order: A Complexity of Hegemony and Counter-hegemony

This article explores the dual complexity brought about by China's global rise. It intends to conceptualize China's rise as having different implications andimpacts on different parts of the world. On the one hand, it may be argued that China is becoming an emerging counter-hegemonic social force to the “core” of the existing world order; while at the same time, it can also be seen as a new rising hegemon to the semi-peripheral and peripheral parts of the world order. This situation prompts the authors to examine the above dynamic and dialectic relationships. In line with the authors' analysis, as an emerging power, China is in a transitional junction from a world order that was dominated by conventional hegemony to a one that is increasingly shaped by interdependent hegemony. With its accumulated power and wealth brought about by its upgraded position in the world system, China's continuous rise is providing more “room for maneuver” and “upward mobility” to semi-peripheral and peripheralcountries.China as a “hegemon” must be understood not as a new member of the conventional “core”, but as a nation whose power is characterized by global relationship and relevance.