The PRC surpasses the US as economic hegemon, and manages to slowly annex and colonize more and more of the territory surrounding it. Taiwan and disputed islands in the South China sea are taken. Some developing countries in Africa fall into a debt trap with Chinese investment, becoming de facto client states, but improving their quality of life somewhat. The PRC’s tight control over private capital means it is the only major power to not be subsumed in influence by its own corporate oligarchs. Internally, the PRC’s treatment of its population becomes progressively more brutal.