Debate: Regional ties

Have the ties between China and its neighboring countries improved or deteriorated in 2011? How will they develop in 2012? What kind of role does the US play in the region? We present readers with three different views on the subject.

Wang Yusheng

Cooperation is the only way forward

The United States' strategic shift toward the East is for real. And for all we know, it is going to get stronger.

The Asia-Pacific region has had a relatively peaceful first decade in the new century. But in early 2010, US President Barack Obama, who calls himself "America's first Pacific president", vowed never to allow the Washington to be "relegated" to a second-rate power in an effort to shift the balance in the region.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, too, has emphasized that Washington must lead and dominate the region. And more than half of US naval forces are being redeployed in the Pacific Ocean.

Over the past year or so, the US has spared no effort in sowing the seeds of discord between China and its neighboring countries. It has even created trouble, overtly or covertly, supporting or encouraging countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines to "take on" China by concocting the "China threat" theory. As a result, stability in the Asia-Pacific region has begun giving way to tension.

Given the fast changing times and international relations, especially the rapid development of China and the Asia-Pacific region, the US' strategic shift eastward reveals more than its design of containing China's rise.

By trying to drum up support for the "China threat" theory, the US wants to create an atmosphere in which Asia Pacific will accept the "American umbrella". Besides, the US has strengthened its control over its regional allies, especially Japan, to prevent being alienated from Asia Pacific. Since the Obama administration has vowed to double the US trade volume in the region in five years, it is trying every trick not to be "marginalized" in the free trade process in East Asia. In doing so, it wants to ensure that American arms dealers, too, can get a share of the spoils.

We should be wary of the US and its efforts to contain China but not make a fuss over it.

Hedging is the strategy that the US employs to deal with China. The fact is that Washington has no choice but to cooperate with Beijing, though it cannot help trying to contain China. In January, President Hu Jintao paid a successful state visit to the US, during which he and his US counterpart Obama agreed to build a cooperative Sino-US partnership and push bilateral ties to new heights.

During his visit to China in August, US Vice-President Joe Biden reaffirmed Washington's commitment to building a strong, enduring and positive US-China relationship. On Sept 8, Biden wrote in The New York Times that he remained convinced that China's rise was not America's demise and "a successful China can make our country more prosperous, not less", because trade and investment have bound the two countries together, as they share "common challenges and responsibilities" on issues from global security to global economic growth and have enough incentives to work together.

It would be good for the two countries, the Asia-Pacific region and global peace and development if US leaders did what they said. But the US continues to infringe upon China's core interests by continuing to sell arms to Taiwan. It has strengthened its already established military alliances, too, encouraging Japan to "move southward" and India to "look eastward", encouraging the two countries to open a "New Silk Road" (a "Eurasian line" stretching from South Asia through Central Asia to the Korean Peninsula).

Moreover, by interfering in the South China Sea disputes, the US is trying to antagonize ASEAN member states, especially the Philippines and Vietnam, against China. This is aimed at creating hurdles in the path of China's peaceful development when the truth is that relationships between China and its neighbors have been improving instead of worsening.

This year marked the 20th anniversary of China-ASEAN dialogue relations. The trade volume between the two sides jumped from $7.96 billion in 1991 to $292.78 billion in 2010, a 37-fold increase and an average annual growth of more than 20 percent. The two sides have maintained cooperation through the ASEAN Regional Forum, 10+3, East Asia Summit and other mechanisms. China has always supported ASEAN to play a leading role in East Asia cooperation, and the two sides elevated their relationship from dialogue partnership to strategic partnership in 2003.

China, Japan and the Republic of Korea will continue to try to set up a free trade area. Apart from the long-time friendship with China and Pakistan, leaders in China and India both realize the importance of putting bilateral ties on track. So do China and its other neighbors.

Washington's strategy is the result of its "hegemonic" mindset and "declining power". But US leaders should realize that their efforts to contain China will not only fail, but also hurt the US.

What's more, unlike China, which firmly supports ASEAN playing the leading role in East Asia's integration, the US tried to undermine ASEAN's role in the region the first time it got to participate in the East Asia Summit in November.

In fact, no ASEAN member state truly wants to contain China's rise in accordance with Washington's wishes. Hillary Clinton did pay an unprecedented visit to Myanmar. But opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi emphasized the importance of maintaining good terms with China when Clinton met her. Which means Myanmar, too, will not help the US to contain China.

China has the sincerity, confidence, and patience to resolve the disputes with its neighbors. China doesn't believe in Cold War politics and it certainly doesn't have any hegemonic intentions. Instead, it seeks "harmony without uniformity", "peace, development and cooperation" and "win-win cooperation". China seeks to cooperate with all countries and avoid confrontation in order to build partnerships of mutual benefit and mutual respect.

Therefore, the US leaders should act like wise statesmen and focus on cooperation with China, for it is the best and only way the Asia-Pacific region can benefit.

The author is executive director of the Strategy Research Center of China International Studies Research Fund and a former senior APEC official.