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Chinese Views of US Foreign Policy under the Obama Administration

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Abstract

The Chinese narrative around concepts of “China’s Rise,” the “US Decline,” and the “Power Shift,” and the assumption that China will have preeminence over its neighborhood in East Asia have absorbed the attention of Chinese scholars and policymakers for two decades. Although the Power Shift is yet to fully emerge, it is deeply embedded in the Chinese consciousness. If China’s rise has not progressed as had been hoped, it is often blamed on US efforts at containment. The Obama administration will be remembered in China for its rebalance to Asia policy. This chapter will examine how Chinese perceived and debated the US rebalance to Asia. Chinese needed to reconcile the US rebalance with the enduring Chinese belief in the Power Shift.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Jeffrey Bader. Obama and China’s Rise: An Insider’s Account of America’s Asia Strategy (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2012).

  2. 2.

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  3. 3.

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  4. 4.

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  5. 5.

    Mark Landler, “Obama’s Journey to Tougher Tack on a Rising China,” New York Times, Sept. 20, 2012. Accessed January 22, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/us/politics/obamas-evolution-to-a-tougher-line-on-china.html; Jeffrey Bader. Obama and China’s Rise: An Insider’s Account of America’s Asia Strategy (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2012).

  6. 6.

    Mark Landlerjan, “U.S. Is Not Trying to Contain China, Clinton Says,” New York Times, January 14, 2011. Accessed January 22, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/15/world/asia/15diplo.html?_r=1

  7. 7.

    Kurt Campbell. The Pivot: The Future of American Statecraft in Asia. (New York: Twelve, 2016), p. 15.

  8. 8.

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  9. 9.

    Jeffrey Bader. Obama and China’s Rise: An Insider’s Account of America’s Asia Strategy (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2012)

  10. 10.

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  11. 11.

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  12. 12.

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  13. 13.

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  14. 14.

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  15. 15.

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  16. 16.

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  17. 17.

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  18. 18.

    Swaine, Ibid., p. 13.

  19. 19.

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  20. 20.

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  21. 21.

    Mathieu Duchâtel and Emmanuel Puig, “Chinese Reactions to the US Rebalance toward Asia: Strategic Distrust and Pragmatic Adaptation,” in Origins and Evolution of the US Rebalance toward Asia: Diplomatic, Military and Economic Dimensions, Hugo Meijer, ed. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), p. 127–128.

  22. 22.

    Ibid., p. 130–134.

  23. 23.

    David Lampton, “China & the US Rebalance to Asia,” Testimony before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, March 31, 2016, http://www.uscc.gov/Hearings/hearing-china-and-us-rebalance-asia

  24. 24.

    You Ji, “US Pivot to Asia and China’s Strategic Dilemma and Response,” Security Outlook of the Asia Pacific Countries and Its Implications for the Defense Sector, NIDS Joint Research Series No.9. (Tokyo: National Institute for Defense Studies, 2013): 150.

  25. 25.

    Zhang Yun, “The Diaoyu/Senkaku Dispute in the Context of China-US-Japan Trilateral Dynamics,” RSIS Working Paper no. 270 (March 19, 2014), p. 8.

  26. 26.

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  27. 27.

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  28. 28.

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  29. 29.

    Yoshihide Soeya, “How can Japan navigate the Senkaku dispute and China’s rise?” East Asia Forum, March 10, 2013.

  30. 30.

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  31. 31.

    Ibid.

  32. 32.

    “U.S., China Defense Chiefs Trade Barbs Over Regional Ambitions: Chang Wanquan Tells Chuck Hagel: China ‘Can Never Be Contained,’” Wall Street Journal, April 8, 2014. Accessed January 22, 2017. http://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304640104579488752623145002?mg=reno64-wsj

  33. 33.

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  34. 34.

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  35. 35.

    Hiroyuki Akita, “A new kind of ‘great power relationship’? No thanks, Obama subtly tells China,” Nikkei Asian Review, July 22, 2014. Accessed January 22, 2017. http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/International-Relations/A-new-kind-of-great-power-relationship-No-thanks-Obama-subtly-tells-China

  36. 36.

    Dingding Chen, “Defining a ‘New Type of Major Power Relations,” The Diplomat, November 08, 2014. Accessed January 22, 2017. http://thediplomat.com/2014/11/defining-a-new-type-of-major-power-relations/

  37. 37.

    Shannon Tiezzi, “NSA Susan Rice in China: Rethinking ‘New Type Great Power Relations,’” The Diplomat, September 10, 2014. Accessed January 22, 2017. http://thediplomat.com/2014/09/nsa-susan-rice-in-china-rethinking-new-type-great-power-relations/

  38. 38.

    Accessed January 22, 2017. https://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2016/06/258091.htm

  39. 39.

    You Ji, “US Pivot to Asia and China’s Strategic Dilemma and Response,” Security Outlook of the Asia Pacific Countries and Its Implications for the Defense Sector, NIDS Joint Research Series No. 9. (Tokyo: National Institute for Defense Studies, 2013):143–164.

  40. 40.

    Dong Wang and Chengzhi Yin, “Mainland China Debates U.S. Pivot/Rebalancing to Asia,” Issues & Studies vol. 50 no. 3 (September 2014): 57–101.

  41. 41.

    Joseph S. Nye Jr., “Work With China, Don’t Contain It,” New York Times op-ed, January 25, 2013. Accessed January 22, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/opinion/work-with-china-dont-contain-it.html

  42. 42.

    Joseph S. Nye, Jr., “Should China Be ‘Contained?’” Project Syndicate, July 4, 2011. Accessed January 22, 2017.

    https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/should-china-be-contained

  43. 43.

    James Clad and Robert A. Manning, “China’s Bad Diplomacy: Beijing’s provocations could lead to self-containment,” The National Interest, December 17, 2012.

  44. 44.

    Ash Carter, Remarks on “The Future of the Rebalance: Enabling Security in the Vital & Dynamic Asia-Pacific,” US Department of Defense, Sept. 29, 2016. Accessed January 22, 2017. https://www.defense.gov/News/Speeches/Speech-View/Article/959937/remarks-on-the-future-of-the-rebalance-enabling-security-in-the-vital-dynamic-a

  45. 45.

    Zheng Denghui, “Is America Trying to Contain China?” The National Interest, April 6, 2015.

  46. 46.

    Adam P. Liff, “Balancing China: Moving Beyond the Containment Fallacy,” The Asan Forum, October 26, 2016, http://www.theasanforum.org/balancing-china-moving-beyond-the-containment-fallacy

  47. 47.

    Wang Jisi, “’Marching Westwards’: The Rebalancing of China’s Geostrategy,” International and Strategic Studies Report, Center for International and Strategic Studies, Peking University, no. 73, October 7, 2012.

  48. 48.

    Yun Sun, “March West: China’s Response to the U.S. Rebalancing,” Brookings Institution, January 31, 2013. Accessed January 22, 2017. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2013/01/31/march-west-chinas-response-to-the-u-s-rebalancing/

  49. 49.

    “Xi: Asian nations voice capacity of taking lead in solving Asian affairs,” Xinhua, May 21, 2014, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2014-05/21/c_126531088.htm

  50. 50.

    The Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs was Held in Beijing 2014/11/29; Xi Jinping Delivered an Important Address at the Conference. Accessed January 22, 2017. http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/t1215680.shtml

  51. 51.

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  52. 52.

    Yuan Xunhui, Zhang Juan, and Shannon Tiezzi, “A Chinese Perspective on Obama’s Asia Policy An interview with Zhu Feng,” The Diplomat, November 09, 2016. Accessed January 22, 2017. http://thediplomat.com/2016/11/a-chinese-perspective-on-obamas-asia-policy/

  53. 53.

    China National Institute for South China Sea Studies. Report on the Military Presence of the United States of America in the Asia-Pacific Region. (Beijing: Current Affairs Press, 2016).

  54. 54.

    Accessed January 22, 2017. https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/18902.htm

  55. 55.

    President Obama’s Farewell Address, January 10, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/farewell, accessed January 13, 2017.

  56. 56.

    Susan Rice, “Explaining President Obama’s Rebalance Strategy,” US Department of State, September 6, 2016. Accessed January 22, 2017. https://blogs.state.gov/stories/2016/09/06/explaining-president-obama-s-rebalance-strategy

  57. 57.

    White House. Fact Sheet: Advancing the Rebalance to Asia and the Pacific. November 16, 2015. Accessed January 22, 2017. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/11/16/fact-sheet-advancing-rebalance-asia-and-pacific

  58. 58.

    Ibid.

  59. 59.

    Ibid.

  60. 60.

    Ash Carter, “The Rebalance and Asia-Pacific Security: Building a Principled Security Network,” Foreign Affairs (November/December 2016), p. 72.

  61. 61.

    Ash Carter, Ibid., p. 71.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Johns Hopkins University, SAIS, Nanjing Center, Nanjing, China

    Gaye Christoffersen

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea (Republic of)

    Matthias Maass

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Christoffersen, G. (2018). Chinese Views of US Foreign Policy under the Obama Administration. In: Maass, M. (eds) The World Views of the Obama Era. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61076-4_11

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