How should China cope with America's return to Asia?

Edited and translated by People's Daily Online

Shift in U.S. international strategy

Since the end of World War II, the United States has adopted six main measures to maintain its global hegemony. These measures include using its mighty armed forces to carry out military strikes, using its enormous economic clout and global influence to implement economic sanctions, fostering pro-American regimes to counter rising powers, using the existing international order and rules to hinder the development of rising powers, promoting American values of freedom and democracy to induce other countries to copy its political system, and using political and economic concessions to get obedient allies.

The United States became much more powerful after the end of World War II, and fought against its enemies through both cold and hot wars, not to mention that it became the world's only superpower after the end of the Cold War. However, the power of the United States has been partially transferred to emerging powers and non-state actors. Although U.S. military power remains vastly superior to that of any other state, it is now unable to solve all security challenges on its own. In addition, the superpower is losing its economic dominance. These factors are causing a shift in the U.S. international strategy from seeking hegemony to maintaining leadership, from relying on the hard power of military force to relying on soft power, and from advancing alone to seeking more allied support.

United States' options for its policy of returning to Asia-Pacific Region

The Obama administration has been emphasizing diplomacy in Asia since it took office, saying that the United States, facing the rise of China, will not show weakness and stand by to watch China expanding its power in Asia. However, the China-U.S. relations is very complicated in the new era and the United States is neither able to conquer China by force of arms nor able to contain and blockade China by economic measures.

Current China-U.S. relations are different from the U.S.-U.S.S.R. relations of the Cold War period. Nowadays, the GDP of China ranks second in the world and China is the United States' largest debtor and third largest export market. In the Asia-Pacific Region, China's economic influence has surpassed that of the United States, mutual dependences between China and many countries of the region are deepening, and these countries are expecting to benefit from China's economic growth. The situation that these countries rely on the United States militarily and rely on China economically will last for a long period.

In addition, China's rapid development and its contributions to the international communities have been recognized by more countries. Therefore, balancing, standardizing and guiding will be the United States' main measures towards China in a period.