alje ii ashington 4ioM Fareed Zakaria: China's growing clout Chinese President Xi Jinping speak to reporters during a press conference at the Great Holt of the People (GHOP)in Beijing, Chino, 12 November 2010. Fareed Zakaria: November 13, 2014 As Moscow continues to send its forces into Ukraine, it seems clear that Vladimir Putin's Russia presents the United States and the West with a frontal challenge. But in the longer run, it is not Russia's overt military assault but China's patient and steady non-military moves that pose the larger challenge. Russia is a great power in decline. Its economy amounts to just 3.4 percent of global gross domestic product. China's is nearly 16 percent and rising, now almost four times the size of Japan's and five times that of Germany, according to the World Bank. Presidents Obama and Xi Jinping deserve the accolades they are receiving for their historic agreement on climate change, which suggests that the United States and China are moving toward a new, productive relationship. Except that, even while negotiating this accord, Xi's government has been laying down plans for a very different foreign policy — one that seeks to replace the American-built post-1945 international system with its own. There is clearly a debate going on in Beijing, but if China continues down this path, it would constitute the most significant and dangerous shift in international politics in 25 years. Wage of 2 EFTA01104925