Conflict and Cooperation in Sino-US Relations

Change and Continuity, Causes and Cures

Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Simon Shen

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9781317664260
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Diplomacy & Treaties
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Numerous crosswinds are buffeting the more than 40-year-old People's Republic of China--American relationship, yet only once since Nixon's historic trip to China in 1972 has a major conflagration seemed a real possibility. Anchoring the relationship throughout multiple storms are the two countries' broad areas of collaboration such as deep links in culture, economics, and education. However, for some observers, the conflictual aspects of the relationship seem to be gaining prominence.

Conflict and Cooperation in Sino-US Relations offers a timely and current look at one of the world's weightiest bilateral relationships. It goes beyond detailing the conflict and cooperation that have been integral facets of China--US interactions since 1972, to gauging the relationship's evolution and future trends, examining its nuances regarding diverse issues such as the Asia-Pacific leadership structure, the South China Sea, and the Korean peninsula. The book further delves into the causes of conflict and cooperation, offers diverse solutions for tempering frictions between Beijing and Washington, and considers the efficacy of some of the mechanisms (e.g., military-to-military exchanges) that China and the US currently employ to manage their relationship.The chapters suggest that extreme anxieties about China--US relations may be misplaced, but that there nonetheless are some worrisome signs even in areas like economics and the environment that are perceived as naturally cooperative. While the book does not offer any silver bullets, various contributors contend that successful management of Sino-American relations may require greater American accommodation of China's interests.

This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Chinese politics, American politics, international relations, and Asian studies, as well as to policy-makers working in the field.

1 Taking the temperature of China–US conflict and cooperation

An introduction¹

Jean-Marc F. Blanchard and Simon Shen

Introduction

As the latest news and the contributors to this edited volume show, numerous crosswinds are buffeting the more than forty-year-old Sino-American relationship. These include the two countries’ shifting power relations, territorial and maritime controversies in the South China Sea (SCS), problems linked to the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea (DPRK) aggressiveness, cybersecurity, and multiple economic frictions. Yet only once since Nixon’s historic trip to China in 1972 – the 1995/1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis – has a major conflagration seemed a real possibility. Anchoring the relationship throughout multiple storms are the two countries’ broad areas of collaboration. These include deep links in culture, economics, and education. For some observers, however, the conflictual aspects of the relationship seem to be gaining prominence.² The intensification of Chinese nationalism and the growing power of China on one hand and the United States “pivot” to the Asia-Pacific Region (APR) on the other have made the future of the bilateral relationship even more uncertain.

Sino-American ties are not understudied. There are many classics covering the twists and turns of the relationship.³ In addition, there is a large body of journal articles, books, and studies addressing narrow issues such as China–US military links, Sino-US–Southeast Asian dynamics, triangular politics where the third vertex is the Soviet Union, US–China energy relations, and US–China crisis management.⁴ However, given the multifaceted nature of the relationship and its dynamism, most of the existing monographs are becoming dated. As well, many do not put the relationship into comparative perspective historically or relative to the politico-economic context. Another limitation is that many do not always contemplate, in depth, what fuels conflict and cooperation between Beijing and Washington in regard to specific issue areas. The lack of dialog among the various sub-fields of Sino-US relations makes inter-disciplinary understanding on this complicated subject methodologically difficult, too. Finally, many shy away from offering focused recommendations for dampening the prospects for conflict and increasing the likelihood of cooperation. This volume not only grapples with these issues, but also supplies timely insight into the direction of Sino-American ties.

From a policy vantage point, there is no doubt the Sino-American relationship warrants study. It is one of the world’s most important political, military, and economic dyads.⁵ Virtually all of the global issues of the day – terrorism, piracy, pandemics, climate change, and proliferation – can be addressed only with some degree of cooperation between Beijing and Washington. Clearly, a major tempest in the relationship would have profound implications for international and regional institutions, the world economy, APR security, and global stability. The dynamics of the relationship and its future direction are important to theorists, too. After all, realists, commercial liberals, and constructivists all believe their frameworks can illuminate where the relationship currently stands and where it might be headed.⁶ Those focused on domestic politics such as the role of legislatures and public opinion have ideas, too, about the drivers of ebbs and flows in the relationship.⁷ Finally, the course of Sino-American ties has salience to those studying the role that geography plays in international relations.⁸ Given the increasing discussion of the concept of “G2,” the Sino-American relationship is arguably the most important bilateral relationship in the international system.

The chapters in this book show that the relationship has experienced notable changes over the past decade or so.⁹ These include the rise of China as the APR’s economic leader, China’s growing assertiveness in the APR, changes in US closeness to Taiwan and China’s tolerance of this, expanding trade frictions, and the seeming emergence of a new crisis management mechanism. Yet, this work also demonstrates there are numerous continuities such as US dominance in the realms of military-security affairs, clashing views about DPRK nonproliferation policy, and the continued development of political, economic, and other dialogs. Indeed, as Stanley Rosen aptly puts it in his conclusion to this volume, for almost 20 years, “the larger issue on both sides has remained the management of the relationship between a rising power and an entrenched superpower.”

This volume reveals, too, that conflict and collaboration currently are, much as they have been, endemic in the relationship. This is well known, however, to specialists and even many more causal observers of the two country’s ties. More interestingly, the contributions in this volume show that conflict and collaboration vary within and among issue areas depending upon the time and specific matter at stake. They reveal that, even in areas that seem inherently cooperative – e.g., economics, environmental cooperation, and military-to-military exchanges – there can be serious tensions. The good news is that serious conflict is not omnipresent, has been eliminated in some areas, and is often managed. The bad news is that some issues (e.g., the DPRK issue) continue to manifest no substantive progress, other areas (the APR) show increasing tensions, and many conflict management techniques have limited efficacy.

Not surprisingly, the chapters in this volume indicate that the causes of conflict and cooperation generally and with regard to specific issue areas cannot be distilled to one or even a few causes. Differing national interests, domestic politics and events, random crises like the 2001 EP-3 incident, the increasing complexity of the relationship, and the ideologies and policy strategies of top political leaders, all seem relevant. Still, the shifting balance of power between China and the US, changes in each party’s need for the other (to serve internal economic needs, meet external security challenges, or something else), and domestic politics seem to shed considerable light on the degree of conflict and cooperation between Beijing and Washington.¹⁰ Still, Rosen’s conclusion queries whether or not past models really can be a useful guide to interpreting the contemporary China–US relationship and its outlook.

Regarding the future course of relations, there is a diversity of views, though most contributors are cautiously optimistic. Quansheng Zhao (Chapter 3) takes comfort in the pacifying effect of bilateral economic interdependence and the absence of severe ideological conflict. While he gives greater stress to tensions in the relationship, Suisheng Zhao (Chapter 4) sees the two countries’ need for each other, extensive links, and inability to dominate the other (for internal and external reasons) as preserving a modus vivendi. Jingdong Yuan (Chapter 6) sees positive trends in Sino-US management of the North Korean issue but also identifies a number of structural factors that will continue to hinder bilateral cooperation. In her chapter on Sino-US energy relations, Gaye Christoffersen (Chapter 8) argues cooperation will be the norm going forward. Analyzing US– China crisis management, Simon Shen and Ryan Kaminski (Chapter 11) find hope in the two sides’ enhanced ability to cope with crises. Of note, none of these contributors anticipates major positive developments in the relationship. Ironically given she focuses on realm of economics, supposedly an intrinsically, cooperative one, Wei Liang (Chapter 7) supplies one of the more pessimistic assessments of future relations.

The chapters in this collection offer diverse suggestions for minimizing China–US conflict and increasing bilateral cooperation. Nevertheless, most call for China and the US to accommodate each other, to show leadership, and to enhance communication. In his conclusion, Rosen offers some reflections about the limits of these varied proposals and adds his own insights, which emphasize cultural variables, perceptual gaps, and mistrust, about what ails the Sino-American relationship. Nonetheless, Rosen’s chapter echoes others in calling for conflict prevention and management, measures to build trust, and mutual understanding and respect for each other’s “core interests” and “obligations.”

The next section highlights some of the prominent tensions in the relationship, some new, some longstanding. The third section probes areas of Sino-American cooperation, though the contributors do the bulk of the heavy lifting in their chapters. The fourth section outlines the chapters in the book and highlights some of the contributors’ insights regarding the main themes of the volume, a task undertaken comprehensively and critically in the conclusion. The last section offers summary remarks, discusses this volume’s policy and theoretical implications, and identifies some important themes that students of Sino-American relations may wish to examine going forward.

Strains and pains, old and new

Bilateral cooperation was more prominent than conflict as the China–US relationship moved into the second decade of the twenty-first century. Still, the first decade of the new millennium did not witness a resolution of any of the major problems bedeviling the bilateral relationship. Moreover, the early part of the second decade showed a resurgence of familiar issues as well as the intensification of other problems that had previously been quiescent. This section identifies some of these problems and provides a general overview of them. It begins by examining Sino-American security issues, before turning to economic and energy issues. It then touches upon a variety of persistent “low politics” issues such as human rights and the environment.

Analysts give significant attention to the power shift occurring between the US and China.¹¹ While China has not yet passed the US in any of the metrics used to determine great power status, its militar...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of illustrations
• Notes on contributors
• Acknowledgments
• List of abbreviations
• 1 Taking the temperature of China–US conflict and cooperation
• 2 A primer on China–US relations, 1949–2008
• 3 China, the US, and the transition of power
• 4 China and America
• 5 Friend or foe
• 6 China’s North Korea dilemma and Sino-US cooperation
• 7 Tough love
• 8 US–China relations in Asia-Pacific energy regime complexes
• 9 Dialogues and their implications in Sino-American relations
• 10 Continuity and change in Sino-US military-to-military relations
• 11 From the EP-3 incident to the USS Kitty Hawk–Song class submarine encounter
• 12 Conclusion
• Index