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US move a provocation

By Tao Wenzhao (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-17 17:37

China and the United States still have much in common and their economic interdependence still deepening

Chinese people feel particularly bewildered over the United States' motives behind its recent military drills with its Asian allies in Northeast Asia and its unrestrained interventions in China's territorial disputes with some Southeast Asian nations in the South China Sea.

The ups-and-downs of Sino-US relations over the past three decades have largely been driven by national interests, in which the two countries have endlessly changed their diplomatic approach towards one another according to their changed interests during different periods.

Since the start of the new century, Sino-US relations have expanded beyond the bilateral basis and an increasing number of regional and international issues have been included in their dealings with each other. As a result, disagreements between the two big powers have increased both in the regional and global dimensions.

A typical example is Washington's policy in Southeast Asia. In their recent self-reflections on US policies towards the region, some US politicians and scholars argued Washington's absence in the region over the past 20-years has contributed to an imbalance of power in the region. The high-toned announcement by US President Barack Obama's administration that the US has "returned" to Southeast Asia testified the US' intention of regaining dominance over the region's affairs.

Washington's motives for deepening cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are beyond reproach if they are in the interest of the region's stability. But the case is different if its involvement is unbeneficial to the settlement of territorial disputes among the parties concerned in the region.

The US has never implicated itself in territorial disputes in the South China Sea and all US administrations have adopted a neutral stance on this issue until recent months. Even during Obama's visit to Manila in June last year, US Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, said the US's policy in Southeast Asia was not to be involved in regional territorial disputes.

However, such a stance seems to have changed, as some US officials and scholars recently called on the Obama administration not to support China's territorial claims in the region. The recent remarks made by US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, in Hanoi, in which she spoke lavishly of international and maritime laws while ignoring the historical facts behind the disputes among regional members in the South China Sea, seem to support such a possibility.

Clinton's attitude at a formal occasion like an ASEAN forum was obviously inappropriate and also a provocation to China, aimed at sowing dissent between China and its Southeast Asian neighbors. The US' position will do nothing but complicate the issue and hamper its settlement.

What Washington is really seeking to do is to win over some Southeast Asian nations in its long-harbored attempt to contain China and balance Beijing's growing influence in the region. For certain regional countries, the US' involvement in regional affairs will bring a little more sense of security and possibly some economic benefits. But there are also some regional countries that don't appreciate Washington's "good intentions". In response to Clinton's recent pro-ASEAN position, the Philippines said the settlement of the South China Sea dispute should be confined to ASEAN members and China and no third party, including the US, is needed.

The US' changed policy in Southeast Asia, especially towards China's territorial disputes with some regional members, has caused some Chinese people to believe a strategic showdown between Beijing and Washington is coming earlier than expected. However, such a belief is over-pessimistic, given that the long-discussed showdown between the two countries is not inevitable.

Despite disputes over a variety of issues, China and the US still share much in common, and their economic interdependence, in particular, still deepens, nor have their differences muted the mutual desire to cooperate in tackling the emerging regional and global challenges.

However, as China develops further, Sino-US relations are expected to undergo some adjustments over regional and global affairs. The expansion of China's national interests has highlighted the importance of coastal security to its interests. The US should change its long-established mentality towards China as the country develops. For example, Washington should no longer regard Beijing as a land-based nation whose navy should be confined to a certain marine scope. The US should welcome a prosperous and powerful China and eliminate its fears and sensitivity over the Asian nation's rapid rise.

Despite its rapid development in the past decades, China is still incapable, or not motivated, to challenge the US' long-established No. 1 position in the world. Due to its poverty and backwardness in the past centuries, China is more motivated than any other countries to promote its self-development. But China's rapid development has not changed the fact its per capita gross domestic product (GDP) is still far behind that of the US, even when its total GDP exceeds that of US in the future.

The US accounts for nearly a half of the world's total military expenditures and its military equipment is unmatchable, thus it should not make a fuss over China's normal military spending and cite its military build-up as a move to break the military balance in the Asia-Pacific region.

The US should accept China's military modernization, which is part of the country's modernization drive and remains an irreversible trend aimed at maintaining its national interests and world peace and security.

The author is a senior research fellow with Tsinghua Center for US-China Relations.