What struck Wang Wen about Antarctica — beyond the brutality of the cold — was the scale of U.S. operations in such an inhospitable environment and the American flag fluttering by the sign that marks the geographic South Pole.

Observing the academic mission of hundreds of U.S. scientists in a region rich in resource potential, he was determined that China must catch up.

A report Wang wrote this summer for the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China in Beijing, where he is executive dean, reflects China's growing dilemma as it muscles its way into an international system it didn't create.