With Osama bin Laden seemingly out
of the way, will the United States turn to the challenge presented by a rising
China? According to this editorial from China's state-controlled Global
Times, as long as China handles the situation wisely, such fears are
unfounded.
The demise of Osama bin Laden
offers the United States an opportunity to declare an end to the "War on
Terror." In view of many Americans, a strategic adjustment of U.S. foreign
policy appears inevitable. Besides, the U.S. media is riddled with analyses of
how to handle a rising China. Do the prescriptions and analyses imply that U.S.
policy will aim to undo the development China has achieved in recent decades?
The Chinese people have long been
haunted by the anxiety that one day, the United States will confront China. So
far these fears have turned out to be unfounded. Experts at home and abroad
believe that during the past decade, the war against terrorism, mainly in the
Arab world, has served to prevent America from "disturbing" China. And
as trouble continues to spread in the Middle East, it may be that the U.S. will
remain pinned down for another ten years.
These views are reasonable to
some extent exaggerate the situation. For the United States, the concerns about
authoritarian states in the Arab world can't compare to developments rooted in China's
rise. Given that China's Gross Domestic Product may exceed that of the United
States within ten years, China could become the primary threat to America's
global hegemony.
In this scenario, will
confrontation be the only option? Most people in both countries answer in the
negative. For the United States, it would seem rational to maintain the status
quo rather than provoke China, thereby triggering risks that would hurt the U.S.
Nevertheless, in the near
future, Washington may pour additional money and resources into handling the
rise of China. As a counterweight, China has the power to prevent a revival of
the kind of confrontation America had with the Soviet Union. China's peaceful
rise might unsettle the U.S., but that hasn't triggered a recasting of its
foreign policy. Besides, it's no coincidence that the pace of China's
development has dwarfed efforts by the U.S. to contain it.
A down-to-earth approach
would be to expand vibrant Sino-U.S. economic cooperation even further, which
is a process powerful enough to squeeze out any U.S. right-wing paranoia.
Periodic skirmishes between the United States and China may be unavoidable, but
downright deterioration in bilateral ties could be destructive to both.
No external force can stop
China's rise. What China needs is the confidence to maintain its rapid
development. A confident China can prevent any anthill dispute with the U.S. from
growing into a mountain of conflict.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
It goes without saying that the
U.S. is an omnipresent superpower. The rise of China is certain to cause
friction, and this demands a peaceful and calm mindset on both sides. Former U.S.
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once noted that if America treats China as a
foe, China will be a foe. Put differently from the Chinese perspective: If
China treats the U.S. as a foe, the U.S. will be a foe.
