At a time when many countries across the world are recklessly beating the drums of territorial, nuclear, and military warfare, China is astonishing the world through its silent psychological warfare demonstrating remarkable innovative capacity, sustained economic momentum, improvements in education and research, strengthened military bases, powerful networking, and extraordinary technological achievements. China’s psychological warfare is not merely a message of awe to the global community; it stands as the highest model of strategic emulation. Modern China (1912–present), particularly since the late twentieth century, has emerged rapidly as a major political and military power through accelerated economic growth and globalization. Alongside this rise, China has quietly prepared itself by bringing under control the world’s fastest economic development, poverty reduction, and technological innovation. As a result, China is often referred to in the Western world as a “silent killer.” Following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, the country transformed itself into one of the world’s leading economic superpowers through the Four Modernizations agriculture, industry, science and technology, and defense along with market-oriented reforms. Located in East Asia, China is the world’s second most populous country. Yet its ability to convert population into productive human capital appears to be an intellectual weapon in itself. According to Wikipedia’s 2025 data, China’s population exceeds 1.4 billion. Covering an area of approximately 9.6 million square kilometers (3.7 million square miles), it shares land borders with fourteen countries, making it the world’s third-largest country by area. In terms of global leadership and superpower status, China currently ranks second just after the United States. Merely three to four decades ago, China was listed among the world’s poorest economies; today, its position as the second-largest economy is nothing short of unprecedented. According to the Global Firepower Index 2025 and 2026 (GFP 2026), China ranks third among 145 countries in military strength challenging not only Western monopoly over power structures but also questioning the very foundations of Western dominance. At a time when Asian countries were once regarded by the West as structurally fragile, China has now overturned that narrative. Beyond advantages of size and natural resources, China has become a high-tech manufacturing powerhouse through the strategic coordination of strong state policies. The scale and speed of China’s industrialization are unparalleled. Economically, militarily, and geopolitically, China has rapidly consolidated itself as a global power. As one of the world’s principal trading partners, it exerts profound influence on the global economy. China is widely recognized as the manufacturing hub of the world. Over the past two decades, China has placed exceptional emphasis on education and research. According to the CWTS Leiden Ranking (science-based research output), eight of the world’s top ten universities are now located in China an achievement that will contribute not only to educational excellence but also to overall national prosperity in the near future. China’s 360-degree strategic transformation did not happen overnight. Such extraordinary national transformation is a reflection of state structure, public participation, and governance capacity. China has always believed in action rather than rhetoric. Moreover, China’s rapid expansion signals the accelerating end of Western colonial dominance. Many scholars argue that China’s growing influence may disrupt existing global power structures. China’s development model stands on three strong pillars: political stability, economic innovation, and social cohesion. The coordination among these pillars keeps China at the forefront of global competition. China serves as a compelling example of how political stability and policy continuity can guide a nation toward its desired development goals. Lower-middle-income and developing countries like Bangladesh can draw lessons from China’s comprehensive strategic approach. In the context of globalization, Bangladesh must focus on strengthening industry and trade, education and research, military capacity, technology, networking, employment generation, and export-oriented production.
Among the primary reasons for Bangladesh’s lagging progress are widespread corruption, political instability, weak administrative structures, high unemployment, economic stagnation, debt burdens, and poor education quality. Inadequate infrastructure, inefficient use of resources, lack of investors, and weak oversight further restrain development. Although the government often announces various initiatives, delays and inefficiencies in implementation are visibly prevalent.
We know that in overall national development, the government plays a central role as policymaker, investor, and guardian. However, development cannot be achieved solely through constitutional policies or government initiatives; conscious citizens must actively participate in implementation. Stable policies, infrastructure development, education and research, healthcare, defense, political and social security systems (such as housing and social allowance programs), and above all transparent accountability have become indispensable for sustainable economic growth. Key lessons Bangladesh can learn from China’s development model include long-term planning, infrastructural development, rapid poverty alleviation, unemployment reduction, advanced applied education, research, training, and strong networking. Bangladeshi policymakers must realize that failure to determine appropriate strategies and weaknesses in internal governance allow foreign influence to infiltrate unchecked ultimately weakening or even dismantling the foundations of national sovereignty. In the modern world, without the capacity to build a comprehensive 360-degree structural foundation like China, liberation from Western dependency and subjugation is virtually impossible. While radical transformation will not occur overnight, sustained effort and commitment are essential. If China-style comprehensive management and strategic implementation are applied in a disciplined manner, Bangladesh’s advancement will become only a matter of time.
