US-China rivalry and the good governance challenge

It's better for the US to get its house in order first; its attacks on Beijing for democratic deficiencies won't work

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Who's bigger: China or the United States? And why does it matter?

The easiest measure is population: China has 1.4 billion; the US has 330 million. No debate here. If the whole world were a democracy, China would have four times as many voters as the US, although China is expected to lose that distinction to India within a decade.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 16, 2020, with the headline US-China rivalry and the good governance challenge. Subscribe