US and China: ‘Strategic contradiction’ between the two

US and China: ‘Strategic contradiction’ between the two

Ibrahim Al-Othaimain

Published — Sunday 20 October 2013

http://arabnews.com/news/468229

US President Barack Obama’s intended visit early this month to Asia for a weeklong trip to attend two summits was called off as it coincided with the US government shutdown. When looked at in conjunction with his visit to Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar soon after his election it reflects a strategic change in the Obama administration's policy, shifting its focus from the Middle East to Asia in an attempt to restrict China’s rise. The question here, according to John Mearsheimer, professor of politics at the University of Chicago, is, wwill politics rather than economy be the deciding factor in restructuring the future of Asia as was the case with Europe in the last century?

In the early ‘60s the Chinese economy was no more than 6 percent of that of the US, whereas it is now more than 50 percent. If the growth rates of the two countries continue the way it is, as predicted by many analysts, the Chinese economy is expected to exceed that of the US within the next decade and to become the largest in the world within the next two decades. In 2009, this prompted the Obama administration to launch strategic economic dialogue with China in an attempt to understand the economic downturn of the US and the rise of the Chinese economy, which is seen by many financial and business experts as a threat to US sovereignty over international economy. China is currently seen as a dynamic contributor to the global economy, and its continued rise may represent a significant threat to the nature of the international system, and a sign of transition to a multipolar world as indicated by prominent US analysts such as Fareed Zakaria in "The Post-American World and The Ride of the Rest".

There are two different approaches within the United States to deal with China. The first, rebalancing relations and the necessity of the “cooperative absorption” of China, is represented in the writings of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. He asserts that Washington should accept the rise of Beijing and stresses the importance of political cooperation between the two countries and close alliances or consultative procedures to avoid conflict over control of the region. The second, confronting the rising influence of Beijing, is represented in the writings of Aaron Friedberg, professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University, who has worked as assistant minister of the US National Security and Director of Policy Planning. In particular in his book, "A Contest for Supremacy: China, America, and the Struggle for Mastery in Asia", Friedberg analyses strategies followed by the US and China in dealing with each other since the early 90s. He concludes that China has always been a control-seeking power, and that to confront the growth of China and its mounting ambition, the US has to stand firm in the areas of Chinese influence. Friedberg quotes former Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kwan Yew as saying, “If you cannot stay steadfast in the Pacific region you can never be a world leader”. He says that if the US allows illiberal China to substitute it as a crucial player in this vital region, it will face grave danger regarding its interests and values throughout the world.

Under Obama the US has tended to adopt the confrontational approach. In early 2012, after ten years of war against Afghanistan and Iraq, he announced his new strategy which shifted US attention to Asia and the Pacific Ocean. This is highlighted in an article in ‘Foreign Policy’ by former US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, who asserted that the future of US policy will be determined in Asia and the Pacific Ocean, not in Afghanistan and Iraq. In addition, during a visit by former US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta to a Vietnamese port in Cam Ranh Bay on the South China Sea, he stated that the United States was seeking to deploy its Navy fleet to Asia and the Pacific region. Panetta asserted that the US would transfer 60 percent of its warships, submarines, and coastal combatant ships to ports in the region by 2020. This was seen as confirmation of Obama’s strategy.

China

Jon M. Huntsman Jr. was a China U.S. ambassador for the Barack Obama administration, a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and is a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

Note: J. Stapleton Roy was a U.S. ambassador for China, the vice chairman for Kissinger Associates, Inc., and is a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank), the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), Common Cause, the New America Foundation, Human Rights First, the Brookings Institution (think tank), the Aspen Institute (think tank), and the International Rescue Committee.

George Soros is the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) was a funder for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank).

Peter G. Peterson was the chairman for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), and is the chairman for the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Lee Kuan Yew is an honorary director at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and was the prime minister for Singapore.

Ted Turner is a co-chairman for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), and a member of Kappa Sigma.

James R. Sasser is a member of Kappa Sigma, a co-chairman for the United States-China Policy Foundation, and was a U.S. ambassador for China.

Jessica Tuchman Mathews is the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), was an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Ed Griffin’s interview with Norman Dodd in 1982

(The investigation into the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population control by involving the United States in war)

http://www.illuminati-news.com/110106a.htm

James A. Leach was a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), the chairman for Common Cause, and a visiting professor at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs is a school at Princeton University.

Eric E. Schmidt was a trustee at Princeton University, a funder for the New America Foundation, is the chairman for the New America Foundation, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Fareed Zakaria is a director at the New America Foundation.

Anne-Marie Slaughter is a director at the New America Foundation, and the dean at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

James D. Zirin is an advisory council member for the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, a director at Human Rights First, and senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.

Sidley Austin LLP is the lobby firm for the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

Thomas A. Cole is a partner at Sidley Austin LLP, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a trustee at the University of Chicago.

Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.

Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.

R. Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Lynn Bendheim Thoman is a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and an advisory council member for the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a senior counsel for Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), was a member of the Iraq Study Group, the president of the Economic Club of Washington, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP is the lobby firm for the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

Leon E. Panetta was a member of the Iraq Study Group, and the defense secretary for the Barack Obama administration.

David M. Rubenstein is a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), the president of the Economic Club of Washington, a trustee at the University of Chicago, and was a benefactor for the Aspen Institute (think tank).

Valerie B. Jarrett is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s great niece, the senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was a trustee at the University of Chicago.

Samuel Hellman was an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and is a professor at the University of Chicago.

Kenneth M. Jacobs is a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a professor at the University of Chicago.

James S. Crown is a trustee at the University of Chicago, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).

Lester Crown is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).

Robert S. Ingersoll was the deputy chairman for the University of Chicago, a U.S. ambassador for Japan, and a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).

Henry A. Kissinger was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), the founder for Kissinger Associates, Inc., an overseer at the International Rescue Committee, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Winston Bao Lord is an overseer at the International Rescue Committee, and was an ambassador for China.

J. Stapleton Roy was a U.S. ambassador for China, the vice chairman for Kissinger Associates, Inc., and is a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

Jon M. Huntsman Jr. was a China U.S. ambassador for the Barack Obama administration, a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and is a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).