How to Look at the U.S. Factor in China's Peripheral Security

By Wu Shan, PLA University of Foreign Language and Li Chenyang, Yunnan University

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How to Look at the U.S. Factor in China's Peripheral Security

By Wu Shan, PLA University of Foreign Language and Li Chenyang, Yunnan University

Since the Obama Administration implements the Asia-Pacific rebalancing strategy, China's security situation in the peripheral areas shows a downward trend, the specific demonstration of which is the complex factors in political relations between China and many neighbors increase, especially the frictions with Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Burma and other countries crop up from time to time; the marginal effects of "promoting political relations with economic relations" strategy applied to neighboring countries by China have decreased, and to achieve substantial breakthrough of interoperability and interconnection as well as capacity cooperation become more difficult between China and neighbors. Meanwhile, China’s territorial waters disputes and fishing disputes with neighboring countries increase and intensity spirals, especially the DPRK Nuclear issue and the South China Sea disputes have become international hot spots. So, what role does the United States play in China's surrounding security pattern? And what should be responses?

China's overall security situation downward trend is related to the U.S. factor

In recent years, the game between China and the United States in China’s peripheral regions is becoming fierce, and the reasons are multiple. The different ideology and political system are a very important factor, besides, China's growing strength poses certain challenges to the U.S. hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region. Historically, there is no defending-major country who is most willing to give up its power. Therefore, we can't simply deny or neglect U.S. China's containment behavior because there is no written document for the American performence, just like some countries, especially the U.S. officials and scholars do.

In fact since 2009, the United States has not only taken actions to systematically curb China, but its deeds and actions are not all “transparent”. The United States in China's surrounding areas covertly plans a number of events, for example, some exclusive evidence shows that some American NGOs and think-tank scholars participate in the early planning of the protest against the Myitsone hydropower station in Burma.

Further review of the history, as soon as new China is founded, the United States encircled China, even in the 1970s after relaxation of the Sino-U.S. relations, the United States does not give up the use of Taiwan and other issues to contain China. It is only because the "Taiwan independent" force in recent years has gone too far on the road to secession and the implementation of China's Anti- Secession Law that the Obama Administration has to change its ways and means in order to avoid direct confrontation with China on the Taiwan issue.

From the perspective of China’s internal affairs, the Obama Administration uses human rights as a pretext to support the "Xinjiang independent" and "Tibetan independent" force to create disturbances. In surrounding regions of China, Obama Administration supports or incites the Philippines, Vietnam, etc. to engage in provocation with China, but it does not show up and tries to delay the rise of China at a smaller price. In Korea Peninsula, DPR Korea repeatedly conducts nuclear tests and launches missiles, South Korea agrees to deploy the U.S. THAAD system, so the Northeast Asian situation seems possible to get out of control.

And the military actions taken by United States in the East China Sea, the South China Sea and the policy toward the DPRK nuclear issue, to a large extent, release the wrong signals to Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore and other countries; the United States will defend the alliance system even at a war with China resulting in pressing on every stage step by step by the Philippines and other countries since 2010 in the South China Sea disputes, and becoming insatiable.

However, to establish a new- type major countries relations between China and the United States proposed by President Xi Jinping, to a certain degree, has been echoed by the United States, neither breaking the relations status quo nor engaging in confrontation has become a consensus between China and the United States. The two countries will not launch major strike against each other for the interests of other countries, so since this year, Vietnam has relaxed its tough stance on the South China Sea disputes, and the Philippines's new President Duterte is also seeking improvement of relations with China after taking office, watering down the South China Sea arbitration case.

Can't attribute all the problems to the U.S. opposition

Although changes in China's surrounding security environment in recent years is not unrelated to the United States, yet the United States is not the variable alone, the adjustments of foreign and security policies by the surrounding countries are important factors that can not be ignored. China is surrounded by mostly small and medium-sized countries, which both intend to take ride on the Chinese economic development, but also worry about the over-big China’s influence, take suspicion and alert attitude toward rising China, thus increasing enforcement of the "major country balance" foreign policy, generally welcome the U.S. military forces in the region (country) to continue the presence. From the perspective of their national interests, some neighboring countries hate to see neither the Chinese influence nor the U.S. influence grow unlimitedly, hate to see the Sino-U.S. joint dominance in this region too, and even hate more to choose side between China and the United States and become victims of the Sino-U.S. confrontation.

Although China's comprehensive national strength in recent years grows faster, yet there is a big gap with that of the United States, and greater gap between the two military forces, which particularly makes the balance of neighboring countries not too tilted to China. Not only that, some countries and the United States are allies, which makes them difficult to regard China as the first choice between the United States and China. Therefore, China should better co-ordinate the economic, military, social and cultural forces to carry out peripheral diplomatic work, so that neighboring countries can have more trust in it and give it more support on major issues. Neighboring countries, when deciding whether to cooperate with China and how to cooperate, will surely take into account the U.S. attitude, but the main determinants are domestic interests.

We should also take notice of such problems that we have failed in some matters with the surrounding countries, and some investment projects are blocked, whose obstacles are not all created by the United States, some given competent authorities and companies should not exaggerate the U.S. impact, and take advantage of the U.S. factor to cover up the problems and errors in their own work.

In addition, do not demonize the threat of the United States. Currently, some Chinese public opinions overestimate the U.S.’s threat to China and render radical anti-American sentiment. The authors argue that this mentality and practice are not conducive to maintenance of peripheral security of the country. In fact, the Obama Administration, while curbing China's rise, also adjusts its mentality to China, to a certain extent, understands and accepts China's new-type major countries relations concept. In terms of peripheral security of China's current and future period, non-confrontational and non-broken relationship between China and the United States are the most important assurance. China cannot adopt the diplomatic policy to ally with other countries against the United States, not only because China is unable to undertake the alliance economic and military costs, but once China adopts the alliance policy, the confrontation between China and the United States will escalate spirally, and even result in bilateral relations broken.

Maintaining peripheral security needs to grasp the balance of the two dimensions

How to deal with the U.S. factor in the peripheral security, there are two extreme views. One believes that since the security challenges in China's surrounding regions almost all are related to the United States, then so long as China keeps good relations with the United States, and China's surrounding security will be guaranteed. The other is that if China attains a real rise, it must be more independent to carry out peripheral diplomacy, and squeeze the United States out of China surrounding regions as soon as possible. The authors believe that although these two views have merits, yet too absolute and extreme as well.

The fundamental differences between China and the United States in ideology, political system and development model will remain for a long time to come, and China will be a rising country most likely to challenge the U.S. global hegemony in the coming period. In other words, the structural contradiction between China and the United States determines that the United States will not whole-heartedly work for China's peripheral security, although the United States will not take excessive actions against China in a short term because of its disputes in the East China Sea and the South China Sea with the Philippines, South Korea, Japan and others. However, if we pin the hope on the United States of maintaining security in the surrounding areas we go a wrong way.

But meanwhile, we must see that the traditional influence of the United States in China’s peripheral regions is deep-rooted, plus a number of allies. Trying to squeeze the United States out of the surrounding areas is very unrealistic, neither the United States will be reconciled, nor the neighboring countries will agree, which need to balance China's influence with the United States.

Therefore, the authors believe that China, as a rising major country, needs not only continuously improve the economic and military strength, but also show the capacity and confidence of a major country, does not overreact to neighboring countries criticism and even a local friction, neither speaks out with a hard tone once a friction emerges, and pays too much lip service with neighboring countries, which will make neighboring countries get closer to the United States. In fact, after the cold war, the international criticism of the United States is the most notable, but the U.S. academic circles, think tanks and the media do not debate with these critiques, which is the performance of strength and self-confidence. While calmly dealing with the U.S. security challenges to the surrounding areas, we should also gradually accumulate experiences to work with neighboring countries and major countries beyond the region.