US-Japan building castles in the air
- By Wang Yusheng
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E-mail China Daily, May 30, 2012
Other Asia-Pacific countries such as Vietnam, the ROK and the Philippines, are also not expected to really join the US' plot to contain China, despite their willingness to develop closer ties with Washington.
Since the US unveiled its plan to shift its strategic focus from west to east, some new changes have emerged in the Asia-Pacific situation. But no matter what changes occur, China consistently adheres to a peaceful development strategy and foreign policies aimed at building a harmonious surrounding region.
It also adheres to a defensive national defense policy and advocates the settlement of disputes in a peaceful and consultative manner. Such a conciliatory approach has won China the understanding and support of the majority of countries in Asia-Pacific region although it has failed to overcome the antagonism displayed by a handful of countries with ulterior motives.
It is China's non-bellicose manner and diplomatic approach to problems over the past decades that have made any anti-China rhetoric unpopular among regional countries. If there is an increasingly heavy smell of gunpowder in the Asia-Pacific region, then it is produced by the continuous military exercises conducted by the US and its Asian allies.
There would have been no smell of gunpowder in East Asia and the bigger Asia-Pacific region if the US' hegemonic and Cold War mentality had not sparked it, or if Japan did not harbor an ulterior motive to compete with China for the "No 2" status behind the US.
It is China's established national policy that it will neither seek hegemony nor vie for hegemony with any other countries. It advocates cooperation with other countries on an equal and win-win footing.
The Asia-Pacific region is big enough to accommodate the common development of China, the US, Japan and other countries, and there is no reason for some to plot confrontation.
The author is executive director of the Strategy Research Center of China International Studies Research Fund.
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