The Future of US-China Relations

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Ideological differences
Human rights concerns in China
The impact of emergence of China as a new power
Collaborations and areas of discord
Conclusion
Reference List

Introduction

The China-US relations are probably the most crucial and sensitive bilateral relationships in the contemporary modern world. The US has the most sophisticated and most advanced military technology in the world.

Therefore, the US has unprecedented power of which none of the other world powers can challenge making the US a central key factor in confronting and controlling other powers, China included.

The US is thus the defacto world leader. On the other side, China’s economic growth and advancement has been tremendously and unmatched. Due to massive economic growth, China’s influence in the world has been mounting with its neighbors becoming concerned.

This US dominance and China’s economic growth have led to the inevitable puzzle of US-China relations, with conflict being inevitable as one nation tries to solidify its influence while the other tries to penetrate new areas establishing itself as the global leader (Shambaugh 2011).

Ideological differences

The US-China relations are a concern to every nation on earth as each has a major impact on global peace and global economy. There have been pessimistic views that, in the future this relation might paralyze major operations in the world especially on economic terms, as their ideologies have been sharply conflicting.

The Communist Party of China has ruled China with very little democratic freedom for along time. China is a communist republic that believes in the nationalization of major sectors of the economy.

On the contrary, the US is highly capitalistic nation that believes in the power of privatization of key areas of the economy. The US also is a democratic nation that highly believes in the freedom of individuals and the media (Levine 1972).

Owing to these differences, Washington has frequently accused Beijing of oppressive measures, Washington raising the issue that in the contemporary modern world all areas of the economy should be privatized to encourage healthy global competition.

While the US has been strongly advocating for liberalization of markets to facilitate globalization, China has been very strict on foreign companies and foreigners (Shambaugh 2001).

The strictness of China’s system has discouraged investors something that has raised major conflict with the US. China’s communist regime has been very strict on freedom of the media and individuals.

Washington has accused Beijing of oppressive measures like the ruthless treatment met by any form of public protest like in the case of Tibet. In China, demonstrations are illegal with any group that tries to demonstrate being harshly treated by the police, with tear gas and molestation.

Therefore, Washington has been concerned that, in the contemporary society, people should have the freedom of agitating for their rights through peaceful demonstrations and other channels (Kan 2011).

Human rights concerns in China

China has thus been accused of human rights abuse. Individuals who try to lead demonstrators have been detained without trial spending many years behind bars without free and fair trial.

Human rights groups have consistently accused China of committing human rights abuses. International journalists have been detained on unfounded bases, some being thrown into jail without international consultations and following international relations protocols.

The US-China relation has thus been strained and looks to be even strained in the future as each nation has different beliefs on human rights. China believes that the state has overwhelming control over individual rights while the US believes individual freedom should be safeguarded at all times.

Since China is a communist nation, its leaders argue that, to safeguard people’s interest, the government has been mandated to partake in any measure necessary to quell distracters (Pollack 2007).

The government is thus empowered by the mob and the Communist Party is the people’s voice. National interest thus overrides individual freedom and the government has the people’s jurisdiction to exercise power over individuals.

The US has opposed this view categorically stating that people’s human rights should be paramount at all times and no measures should be taken that is deemed to undermine human rights.

Without reaching at a consensus on human rights standards, the two nations seems will conflict even more in the future with each standing by its’ conviction (Foot 2010).

The impact of emergence of China as a new power

As noted, China has emerged to be a key player in world affairs. China’s economic success has also seen the country engage in ambitions to modernize and advance its military weapons.

In the past, the emergence of new powers always brought international conflicts and tension as was evident in the cold war period. China’s continuous economic growth has many experts projecting that there will be more conflicts and tension in the future.

Others have cited that, the belief there will be conflict in the future because of China’s ambitions, might be itself be a cause of conflict in the future.

There will be a tendency of publicizing and exaggerating any sort of friction between the two nations and thus generating tension. The two powers lack strategic trust and the prevailing mistrust could as well be a cause of conflict as it did between the US and the then Soviet republic in the cold war era (White 2008).

The US government has on many occasions, stressed its support for China’s prosperity and China’s involvement in world affairs and the US government does not intend to hamper China’s progress to becoming even greater economic hub.

However, the same US government has continuously been preoccupied on how to engage China in issues affecting the Asian region and how it could actively involve China in the development projects of the region with mainly an aim of making China review its economic policies to enable US firms to invest more in the country.

This includes the currency policy of the country that has been accused of discriminating investors from abroad in favor of local ones and the frail protection for inventory and intellectual property.

China’s continuous defiance of international standards and refusal to heed and address US concerns has been cited as a point of reference that could cause conflict in the future.

With globalization, many nations are expected to adhere to international standards and policies especially on economic matters. China’s reluctance and opting to tackle various issues its own way could be a major cause of international crisis especially with the US (Xiang 2001).

Collaborations and areas of discord

In the progressive, more optimistic future projections, there has been major cooperation and collaborations. The two nations have worked together in tackling the global economic challenges especially the economic crunch.

Much of the US foreign debt is owed to China. The two nations have been supportive of each other in tackling the depression. The US has also been importing cheap Chinese goods to enable it to ease the economic burden.

On its part, the US has sent various expertises in various Chinese projects. During the construction of the biggest hydro generating power plant in the world, that is the Three Gorge Dam in China, the US sent expertise and partly funded the project.

On nuclear proliferation concerns, the two countries have been in the forefront in pressurizing North Korea and Iran to abandon their nuclear ambitions. These two nations have been lobbying other nations to consider sanctions on Iran and North Korea.

China’s large population makes it to be at the greatest risk of incurring the greatest loss if nuclear weapons were to be applied. China has relentlessly called for the reduction of nuclear weapons by the two major nuclear weapon possessing nations in the world, namely the US and Russia.

This has even caused the relationship between the two nations, that is the US and China, to deteriorate as China at times has threatened to boycott various international meeting if its call for further nuclear reduction are not heeded.

In the recent times, the relationship of these two nations seems to be worsening. The US on its side has been concerned that China’s policies concerning currency and industries does not meet the required standards.

Sometimes the country is also accused of reluctant in condemning North Korea’s ambitions and nuclear provocation on its neighbors. The country has also been accused of expanding its territories into the Sea south of China yet the area is disputed.

On its part, China has been angered by US military weapons sale to Taiwan and Obama’s recognition and meeting Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet, who has been accused of treason. The US has also angered China by engaging in military operation together with the South Korean forces (Department of Defense 2010).

Taiwan has been a province of contention for a long time. While Taiwan seeks autonomy and reduces Chinese interference, China insists Taiwan is a province within China. Any nation that recognizes Taiwan as a country risks spoiling its relations with Beijing.

The much cultivated and improved US relation with China has been put in jeopardy by the arms deal between Taiwan and the US. Beijing has consistently called for the halting of US selling arms to Taiwan. Hu Jintao, the Chinese president visited White House in an effort to come with a consensus on various contentious issues.

Beijing had been very much offended by the Obama’s Administration’s decision to sell arms to Taiwan. Beijing g issued a statement that stated Washington must stop any sort of arms sell to Taiwan or else the companies involved would be sanctioned. Washington was told that instead, it should support the peaceful co-existence in the region without getting involved.

However, the US remained adamant stating that under an agreement signed in 1979, the US was obliged to sell arms to Taiwan in ensuring the sate was able to defend itself from external aggressors.

The Yellow Sea borders China to the east. China has been offended by the US decision to hold military exercise in the sea in preparation for any eventually because of North Korea’s increased provocations.

China has cited the US action as a threat to its national security and thus the US should abandon the mission at once. The US on its part has stated that it has its own national interests that it must safeguard and it had done nothing wrong as it has freedom of navigation.

China should in fact cease claiming ownership of South China Sea and should observe the set international humanitarian laws (Bitzinger & Desker 2008). More tension escalated after an incident in which a Chinese fishing trawler accidently collided with a Japanese Coast Guard vessel.

This incident occurred in the disputed islands. US-China relations deteriorated when US decided to support Japan stating that these islands belonged to Japan. If such incidents remain unsettled, each nation getting involved in actions that antagonizes the other, experts have raised the alarm that there is an inevitable conflict in the future.

Future cooperation has on the other hand been paved by the increased need for dialogue. The Chinese president visited the US in January where he held a joint press conference with his US counterpart, President Obama.

The two world leaders used the platform to state their intentions, the need for respect of each other’s goals and targets. Instead of focusing on disputes there was the focus on shared interest, each leader acknowledging that cooperation would benefit both countries while conflict of whichever sort would bring harm and losses to both countries.

The Chinese leader was warmly welcomed and accorded special treatment. He was accorded a state dinner, twenty-one gun salutes, and a well-organized intimate dinner of six that is rarely organized for any leader.

On the Chinese side, an order for American goods was placed that was worth forty five billion dollars. If close partnership and dialoging between leaders of these nations was to continue, there is optimism that future relations would be improved and maintained.

Most of the conflict is because of miscommunication that results to suspicion. If the leaders of the two nations were to be meeting regularly, then they could cultivate a relationship that would in turn result to commitment (Art 2010).

Any nation that engages in massive militarization becomes of major concern and focus by the US. The Communist Party of China focuses on empowering the people of the republic in all sectors. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has continuously undergone modernization process.

China has for over two decades increased its military spending (Carter & Perry 2007). Pentagon has stated that China has increasing its military budget by over ten percent annually with 2011 budget allocating twelve percent more on militarization than in 2010.

However, pentagon believes the amount could be doubled as China has been accused of lacking transparency in its endeavors. Congress has praised China’s military contribution in maintaining international peace like contributing heavily in peacekeeping missions, fighting piracy in the Indian Ocean and the humanitarian assistance offered during disasters.

The major concerns of China’s military expansion have been lack of transparency. China has not made its military intentions known, with pentagon predicting that China’s militarization is to challenge US dominance in the affairs of the region and to prepare for any attack on Taiwan that would result to Washington offering support to the island.

Transparency has thus been a point of contention that experts have pointed out might ruin future relations (Clark 2011).

Conclusion

With the US and China having different ideological inclination and systems of governments, there is a major point of concern of how the two powerful nations might relate in the future.

China’s economic prowess has enabled her to spread her influence everywhere. Many say that the US role in world affairs is quickly waning. However, the US is still the most dominant nation on earth and it is very hard to dethrone it from its leading role in world affairs.

With the rise of nationalism and desire to influencing nations to be more pro-China than pro-US, conflict in the future seems inevitable (Art 2007).

However if the two nations were to work together and reduce their high level of imperialism, with more transparency, then the future relations would be much improved something that apart from benefiting the two nations, would benefit the whole world.

Reference List

Art, R. 2010, ‘The United States and the rise of China: Implications for the long haul’, Political Science Quarterly, vol. 125, no. 3, pp. 359-391.

Art, R. 2007, ‘Agreeing to agree (and disagree)’, The National Interest, no. 89, pp. 33-39.

Bitzinger, R & Desker, B 2008, ‘Why East Asian war is unlikely’, Survival, vol. 50, no. 6, pp. 105-128.

Carter, A & Perry, W. 2007, ‘China on the march’, The National Interest, no. 88, pp. 16-22.

Christensen, T. 2006, ‘Fostering stability or creating a monster? The rise of China and US policy toward East Asia’, International Security, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 81-126.

Clark, I 2011, ‘China and the United States: a succession of hegemonies?’, International Affairs, vol. 87, no. 1, pp. 13-28.

Department of Defense (US), Annual Report to Congress 2010, Military & security developments involving the People’s Republic of China, 2011. Web.

Foot, R 2010, ‘China and the United States: Between cold and warm peace’, Survival, vol. 51, no.6, pp. 123-146.

Kan, S. 2011, ‘China/Taiwan: Evolution of the “One China” policy – Key statements from Washington, Beijing, and Taipei‘, Congressional Research Service Report, 2011. Web.

Levine, L. 1972. US-China relations. New York: Speller Pollack, J 2007, ‘Chinese military power: What vexes the United States and why?’, Orbis, vol. 51, no. 4, pp. 635-650.

Shambaugh, D 2011, ‘Coping with a conflicted China’, The Washington Quarterly, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 7-27.

Shambaugh, D 2001, ‘China or America: Which is the revisionist power?’, Survival, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 25-30.

White, H, 2008, ‘Why war in Asia remains thinkable’, Survival, vol. 50, no. 6, pp. 85-104.

Xiang, L 2001, ‘Washington’s misguided China policy’, Survival, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 7-24.

Click Here To Order Now!