Keep Sino-US 'soft conflicts' under control
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About a month ago, I had a discussion with a friend in US studies on emerging Sino-US disputes in the climate change conference at Copenhagen. Don't believe these superficial phenomena, he said. This is a drama co-acted by China and the US. In other words, China and the US are pretending to be at odds to dismiss the international community's worries that the G2 is ruling the world.
The evidence that justify his opinions is the concept conveyed by US President Barack Obama that the Sino-US relation is one of the most important bilateral relations in the world. State Secretary Hillary Clinton once said that the two countries should "be in the same boat" to handle global issues, which also contributes to my friend's view.
If his drama theory were true, then it had been overthrown by the recent US policies regarding China. Obama has been consistently challenging Sino-US trade relations, which could trigger a trade war. This is a policy that seeks to contain the development of China. He also declared an arm sales deal to Taiwan, despite the fact that tension across the Straits has relaxed.
This is a policy that intervenes in the sovereignty of China and its own process of reunification. The Obama administration also took the opportunity brought forth by Google to attack China's Internet management, while the US has sold the value of Internet freedom to Chinese people. This is a policy that distorts China's international appearance and at the same time intentionally influences China's mainstream values.
Major General Peng Guangqian defines current Sino-US relations as a "smart war". In his view, the Obama administration is launching a war that "softly offends China while strongly defends the US."
Fransois Jelay, an expert of political geography and head of the Center for Strategic Analysis in France, summaries the US' new China policy as "soft containment".
Both the general and Jelay point out that this soft side of new Sino-US disputes is its flexibility of control and precaution. But I have to say, it is more important not to underestimate the general context of the coming Sino-US disputes.
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