Chinese Strategic Thought 2001–09

Abstract

New circumstances shaped China’s strategic options in the first decade of the new century. First, it undeniably rose in the ranks of world powers, firmly securing the second spot and gaining recognition as a serious challenger for advancing to the top spot. Second, it faced a world in which U.S. power was relatively diminished and distracted, shifting the balance from Chinese dependency to mutual dependency. Third, it had emerged as the centerpiece in Asian economic integration, thriving from a new division of labor that made it economically indispensable both for its neighbors and for the linkages leading to global markets. Finally, China acquired the image of a separate center of global politics and values, even if it disavowed the much-ballyhooed concept of the “Beijing consensus” and eschewed a return to cold war polarization centered on the divide between the “free world” and the socialist bloc. The challenge was no longer to manage weakness, but to calibrate the optimal balance between cautious deference that would allay concerns about a “China threat” and bold assertiveness to realize goals that had been postponed or were assumed to be achievable only when China had built up considerable national power.