Outsiders are increasingly convinced that China is a superpower, and that it needs to show that it can be a responsible one. But China’s rulers only sometimes embrace the designation – and the Party still sometimes behaves as if it had only a tenuous hold on power.
舍克的书名还包含着一个困扰着外交事务的重要现象：外国人日渐确信中国就是一个超级大国，并以此认为中国有必要负担起相应的责任。虽然中国的统治者有时会接受这种称号——但中共有时的行为，却仿佛其手中的政权正岌岌可危似的。