Robert Ross addressed these fundamental questions in his overview of the current debate over China. Ross has serious doubts, however, regarding the premise of the conventional wisdom that assumes that China has the necessary capabilities to become a hegemonic power. China has established, with the exception of strategic nuclear capabilities, strategic superiority in its border regions, including Indochina, Central Asia, and along the Sino-Russian border.
China is also strategically well-positioned in the Korean Peninsula.
However, in a debate over the emergence of a rising power, consideration of more than simply influence over the land mass of Asia is necessary. Indeed, there is wide acceptance of the current status quo as the basis for a new, stable order in Asia. Ross contends that China's only outlet for gaining greater influence in the region is through strategic influence over the maritime areas of East and Southeast Asia. This will be a very difficult objective for China to attain, according to Ross. Even at the end of the Cold War, despite all its military spending and technology, the Soviet Union remained a continental power.