Similarly, at least in terms of economic, if not military, capability, the United States and Japan seem to have begun a process of decline relative to China. Of course, this process is not irreversible: Effective political leadership and successful domestic reforms in the US and Japan, together with China’s failure to manage political pressure from below, could yet halt this seemingly inexorable power shift.
类似地，至少在经济实力上（军事姑且不论），美国和日本似乎已经开始了相对中国的衰落过程。当然，这一过程并不是不可逆的。若美国和日本能出现有效的政治领导和成功的民主改革，而中国不能有效管理自下而上的政治压力，则有可能中止这一看似势不可挡的实力变迁之势。