There is no shortage of gloomy assessments of the global situation at the moment. "In the era of great powers, our freedom is no longer a given. It is under threat," said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the opening of the Munich Security Conference  earlier in February.  Merz explicitly mentioned China . "China has the ambition to shape global affairs, laying the foundations for this over many years with strategic patience. In the foreseeable future, Beijing could draw level with the US in