US-China Relations - 137. page

On January 10, 2012, Huanqiu (the Chinese edition of Global Times) published an article titled “Out of Its Own Self Interest, China Should Prevent an Iranian War.” China’s self-interest in Iran includes the huge amount of oil in Iran and Iran’s important role in containing the U.S. so as to, strategically, ease the  pressure on China. Although “China cannot form an alliance with Iran and act as the enemy of the United States, China must do something to stop an ‘Iranian War’ while avoiding any fatal damage to Sino-US relations.”

The article lists the following suggestions of how to prevent the U.S. from starting a war against Iran: 1) Cooperate with Russia to oppose an Iranian War; 2) If the U.S. sanctions a Chinese company in Iran, China should carry out the same sanctions against the U.S.; 3) Help Iran diplomatically, maintaining high-level visits between Beijing and Tehran, so as to prevent Iran from being convicted in the court of global public opinion; 4) Make the war mentally and realistically more difficult for the U.S to start, as this is an election year and a new war may interfere with Obama’s re-election.

Source: Huanqiu, January 10, 2012
http://finance.huanqiu.com/data/2012-01/2342289.html

International Herald Leader, a newspaper under Xinhua News Agency, published an article on January 9, 2012, titled “More Researches Should Be Conducted on the Fatal Flaw of the United States.” The author of the article is Mr. Sun Zhe, a professor and director of the Center for US-China Relations, Tsinghua University. Sun suggested that the U.S. high-profile involvement in the South China Sea and President Obama’s criticism of China is normal. Having met many Americans including the U.S. vice president, former senior politicians, and think tank scholars, Sun concludes that the Americans are increasingly viewing China as a threat to the United States.

“The more China is viewed as a country that will surpass the U.S. in GDP, the more we must be modest and be aware of our shortcomings.” To outwit the U.S. diplomatically, Sun suggested doing more academic research exchanges so as to better understand the U.S. and China.

Source: International Herald Leader, January 9, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2012-01/09/c_131344109.htm

Dai Xu, a researcher at the China Strategic Research Center, Beijing University, published an article on China-U.S. relations. Dai stated that the United States is forging ahead on three fronts and that China should be realistic about its relationship with the U.S. “In Russia, the U.S. is compressing the Russian strategic space by deploying an anti-missile system in Europe and by attempting lethal attacks in the Russian presidential election. In China, it announced its return to Asia and threw China’s neighbors into chaos. In the Islamic battlefield, it subverted and dismembered Iraq, Libya, Sudan, and Yemen, and now surrounds Syria and Iran, dragging Pakistan along.” The article quoted the remarks that Jon Huntsman made during the CBS presidential debate. Huntsman suggested that the U.S. should be reaching out to its allies and constituencies within China to take down China. The article states, “It looks like the U.S. strategists believe the U.S. can survive without China and do not show any desire to build a community of common interests with China.” The article concluded by urging that China must be realistic and rational about the environment and know its enemy well.

Source: Huanqiu reprinted by Xinhua, January 4, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2012-01/04/c_122533644.htm

Wang Fonggang, the Deputy Director of the Institute of American Studies at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, discussed how to move China-U.S. relations forward while facing uncertainties.

Wang foresees that China-U.S. relations in 2012 will be very complicated due to the election year and the structural changes in the international situation and bilateral relations. He said that the main task in China-U.S. relations in 2012 will be to “maintain stability.” … China should increase its awareness in three areas. First is the awareness of crises. (China) should fully recognize the seriousness of both domestic and foreign situations and the periodic danger in China-U.S. relations. Second is comprehensive planning. In handling China-U.S. relations, (China) should put more effort into working with multiple departments in the U.S., by various means, via multiple channels, and at multiple levels simultaneously. Third is advancement. (China) should not only do well in crisis management and actively prevent crises; in China-U.S. relations, it should also seek opportunities in a crisis to develop new areas to cooperate and to make progress on the basis of stability.

Source: China News Agency, January 2, 2012
http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2012/01-02/3577060.shtml

The “2011 Forum on China Diplomacy Review and Future Outlook” was held on December 18, 2011, in Beijing. Yuan Pang, the director of the American Studies Institute of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, discussed the new challenges that China-U.S. relations presently face. Yuan listed four challenges: 1) The biggest challenge is that the foundation for long-term cooperation between China and the U.S. is shaky. After the killing of bin-Laden and the U.S. withdrawal of its troops (from Iraq), will anti-terrorism continue to be a cooperative strategy? As the complementary relationship of the economy and trade between China and the U.S. gradually manifests more friction and conflict, will cooperation in the areas of the economy and trade continue to support China-U.S. relations? These two foundations face challenges. 2) The second area for challenges is the change in the international environment, namely in our neighborhood, where the U.S. is making use of those countries that have territorial conflicts with China. 3) Third is that Russia, as our strategic partner in the past, is expecting China to come to the front line. 4) The last one is that the strategic view has changed. In Deng’s era, China’s strategy was to learn from the U.S. in technology and absorb capital. After Deng, the strategy has become fighting and cooperation at the same time. What is the direction China should take right now? It is not clear.

Source: ifeng.com, December 19, 2011
http://news.ifeng.com/mainland/detail_2011_12/19/11427081_0.shtml

Xiao Dong, the chief editor of China Press, a U.S. based Chinese language newspaper, contributed a special article to People’s Daily. In the article, Xiao wrote that China should use “soft checks and balances” to deal with the U.S. “soft containment” of China which appeared as a recent adjustment to its strategy in the Pacific region. “Soft checks and balances include constraining the U.S. through international organizations, deterring the U.S. through economic means, restricting its freedom through diplomatic measures, and using ingenuity to lead the U.S. strategy toward failure. … Soft power is a capability while soft checks and balances are a means.” Specifically, “China should fully utilize the existing dialogue mechanism to resolve conflicts and seek a win-win situation; fully utilize the framework of international institutions and organizations, particularly those China can effectively influence; and fully use diplomatic means of all kinds to reduce the pressure.”

According to the U.S. based Jamestown Foundation, “China Press is directly controlled by the Chinese government. The paper is characterized by its substantial and timely news reports from Mainland China. It represents the voice and views of China’s Communist government.”

Sources:
People’s Daily, December 21, 2011
http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/70731/16672314.html
Jamestown Foundation, “How China’s Government Is Attempting to Control Chinese Media in America” http://www.jamestown.org/programs/chinabrief/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=3764&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=191&no_cache=1

Study Times, the publication of the Party School of the Central Committee of the CCP, published an article on December 19, 2011, titled “How Should China Deal with TPP?” According to the article, the Trans-Pacific Partnership is incomplete without China’s accession. Currently, China has difficulty meeting certain TPP’ requirements, such as on government procurement, state-owned enterprises having a limited role in the national economy, an assurance of market-driven innovation, a high demand for labor, and environmental standards. However, TPP’s rules give China an opportunity to open up and promote reform. “Following the principle of seeking  what is most beneficial for China’s maximum interest, China should actively and steadily negotiate with TPP.”  

Source: Study Times, December 19, 2011
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2011/12/19/02/02_31.htm

Xinhua carried an article, originally from Jiefang Daily, which was written by Liu Baolai, the former Chinese Ambassador to the Middle East and Vice President of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. The title was, “It Is Too Early to Speak Unfavorably of the U.S. Decline.” The article analyzed the strategies that the U.S. has used in adjusting in its foreign and domestic policies. It concluded that the U.S. still holds the world’s number one position and no other country can replace it.

The article summarized the strategic changes in U.S. foreign policy in the following three areas: 1) The shift in focus from anti-terrorism to the economy: the U.S. concern over the economy has replaced its concern over terrorism. One example is that the topic discussed during Obama’s recent Asia Pacific trip was not terrorism, but rather it was the economy. 2) The shift in strategy towards the East and forging the “America Pacific Century”: the U.S. withdrew from Iraq and Afghanistan while speeding up its pace in moving towards the Asia Pacific region in order to regain its dominance in the area. 3) The adjustment in Middle-East policy: the U.S. started to openly support the reforms in the Middle East with the intention of letting those countries smoothly transition towards democracy by following the U.S.’s direction.

According to the article, the U.S. government has focused domestically on reducing the rate of unemployment, on increasing investment in high tech and new weapons development in areas such as clean energy and the pharmaceutical field, and on preserving military power by maintaining the military budget despite the skyrocketing national debt it faces.

The article summarized, “It can therefore be concluded that the high status of the U.S. in the world will remain stable in the predictable future and no other country can replace it.” .

Source: Xinhua, December 14, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2011-12/14/c_122418506.htm