China in Global Capitalism by Kevin Lin;Rosa Liu;Eli Friedman;Ashley Smith;

Author:Kevin Lin;Rosa Liu;Eli Friedman;Ashley Smith;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lightning Source (Tier 4)

FROM “CONGAGEMENT” TO GREAT POWER RIVALRY

This new world order has forced the US to shift its imperial strategy in general and specifically in relation to China. Up until the Trump administration, US policy toward China had been a combination of containment and engagement, or what some policy analysts call “congagement.”11 The US tried to engage and incorporate China into its neoliberal world order and, by doing so, compel it to privatize the rest of its state-owned industries and adopt free-market capitalism. While the stated aim of the US was to encourage China to adopt liberalizing political reforms as well, its quick normalization of relations after the Tiananmen Massacre in 1989 proves that it was far more interested in making profit than democratization. At the same time, Washington remained wary because of Beijing’s reluctance to fully follow its dictates and therefore hedged its bets by retaining elements of a policy of containment toward China. For example, it maintained its vast archipelago of military bases in the Asia Pacific and regularly patrolled its waters, including the Taiwan strait, with aircraft carriers and battleships.

The US shifted back and forth between emphasizing the two poles of the “congagement” policy. For example, Bill Clinton’s administration called China a “strategic partner,” whereas George W. Bush’s administration called it a “strategic competitor.” Under Barack Obama, the US decisively tilted toward containment with his administration’s so-called Pivot to Asia.12 He hoped to integrate Asia economically into the neoliberal order through the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, which excluded China. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter declared, “Passing the TPP was as important to me as a new aircraft carrier.”13 To enforce this economic pact, Obama planned to shift 60 percent of the US Navy to the Asia Pacific to deter Beijing’s military expansion. Finally, he intended to shore up and expand Washington’s historic alliances forged over decades of hegemony in Asia and establish new ones with countries like Vietnam. Obama’s Pivot failed. The US remained bogged down in the Middle East, the TPP never even came up for a ratification vote, and its alliances in the Asia Pacific frayed as states doubted Washington’s commitment to the region and opted for balancing between the two rivals. Thus, US imperial strategy at the time was at an impasse.

In sharp contrast to Obama, the Trump administration abandoned the overarching strategy of superintending the neoliberal world order, for a new strategy of economic nationalism and “illiberal hegemony.”14 In place of “congagement,” it adopted unilateral policies to prosecute “great power competition” with China. While its National Security Strategy also named Russia as a strategic rival, Trump avoided challenging Moscow for unclear reasons, perhaps because of his affection for right-wing autocrats or appreciation for Vladimir Putin’s attempted interference in the US elections. Trump’s China policy had economic, military, and geopolitical features. On the economic front, the US abandoned the TPP and multilateral trade deals in general for bilateral ones. He imposed protectionist measures against China, launching a tariff war on its steel and other exports to the US.

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