to accusations from the increasingly bullish and prominent Chinese government and society that the East Asian nation is disproportionately represented in the global economic system. Certainly this is not a viewpoint shared by the existing hierarchy of the United States, and Chinese and Russian representation in most major global institutions remains extremely limited.

With China and Russia craving a place at the top table, and demographics pointing to the legitimacy of this view, both nations have taken steps, at least rhetorically, in order to underline their new prominence in the world. According to the International Monetary Fund, China has now overtaken the United States as the largest economy on the planet, and even though some analysts disagree with this verdict, the inevitability of this is not seriously contested.

This hasled China and Russia to be involved in the creation of the formalised BRICS group that provides a counterpoint to the dominant Anglo-American institutions. In particular, the BRICS nations have floated the idea of setting up their own central bank to oppose what is sometimes referred to as the Bank for International Settlements system.

China is also a particularly significant nation for the United States, as it is the largest holder of United States treasuries. While this suggests that there is something of a symbiotic relationship between the two nations – and this has recently been supported by the relatively harmonious cooperation of Russia, China and the United States over Iran – it also implies a certain power play.

With China holding such a large amount of US debt, the