US president has adjusted his attitude towards the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

As soon as European countries including the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy announced their intention to join the China-proposed (AIIB), the US dropped its opposition and said it looked forward to cooperating with the new bank.

The AIIB has drawn at least 52 countries and regions to apply for becoming its founding member. China is emerging as a great power, however according to Joe Nye, an American political scientist, the notion that it will replace the US as global leader in future is fantasy.

When the IMF announced that China had overtaken the US in aggregate GDP, China was in a position to celebrate as the country still has a middle income at the per capita level.

However, there is no doubt that China is indeed rising as a great power. However, whether it achieves the aim of being the first ever great power to rise peacefully still remains to be seen.

This is the basic question of the 21st century which might determine whether the world will fall into third world war or will be broken.

The current situation is giving mixed signals as China has territorial disputes with virtually all its neighbors. Presently, China can be criticized as an imperialist power. It might be possible that it turns out to be cuddly panda bear.

Two factors will essentially determine the outcome. The first is how Beijing responds to its multiple domestic issues and challenges, which include social, political, economic, technological, environmental, demographic, gender and cultural.

The second factor is how the outside world, especially the established powers, like the US, responds and adjusts to China’s great power rise.