This month marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the People's Republic of China and the US. Because of America's global presence, China's relationship with it is, as President Hu Jintao (
The US plays an integral role in China's foreign policy. However, China has and will continue to assert its independence through other diplomatic channels. China's effective diplomatic strategy has allowed it to consolidate its influence in Asia. The US must therefore implement a new public diplomacy strategy aimed at preserving core geo-strategic and national interests in Asia.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's (
In a highly interdependent global economy, Beijing needs the US just as the US needs China.
Wen's meeting with US President George Bush was the third meeting between Chinese and US leaders last year. At Wen's arrival ceremony, Bush was in rare form, smiling and leading Wen near crowds braving freezing temperatures.
This was in stark contrast to the Bush administration threatening to slap trade sanctions on Chinese textiles, TV and iron-fitting products in November. The sudden change in relations demonstrates the importance both countries place on maintaining political and economic stability.
The Chinese Communist Party has staked its legitimacy on attracting higher levels of foreign direct investment and increasing overall economic growth. To do this, Beijing must continue to improve its relations both with the US and other key economic powers.
Robust economic growth, combined with effective diplomacy, has immeasurably improved China's international image. Because of this, China's diplomatic engagement has important implications for the US.
As a growing economic and military power, China is perfectly positioned in Asia. It now acts as a vital mediator between the US and North Korea. In addition, China's relations with South Korea are better than they are with the US. ASEAN now looks at China as an important economic and political lifeline.
But China's diplomacy also has important implications for US interests in the region, such as Taiwan. China has prevented Taiwan from entering the UN and from obtaining observer status in the World Health Organization. Even more surprisingly, because of strong pressure from Beijing, Bush went so far as to tell President Chen Shui-bian (
The US must recognize that while China is dependent on the US for its export markets and foreign direct investment, Bei-jing has and will continue to assert its independence through diplomatic channels.
Beijing has become very effective in using this "soft power" to consolidate its influence in Asia.
The US needs to embark on an aggressive public diplomacy strategy, de-emphasizing the "war on terror," and increasing state-level contact between the US and traditional Asian allies. It must also devote more resources to international student exchanges to improve trust and understanding at the grass-roots level.
Failure to improve America's image in Asia will lead to a weaker presence there and a smaller overall influence in the region.
Earl Carr is a research associate in East Asian studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
The military is conducting its annual Han Kuang exercises in phases. The minister of national defense recently said that this year’s scenarios would simulate defending the nation against possible actions the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might take in an invasion of Taiwan, making the threat of a speculated Chinese invasion in 2027 a heated agenda item again. That year, also referred to as the “Davidson window,” is named after then-US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Philip Davidson, who in 2021 warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Xi in 2017