Will China–U.S. relations come back to the normal track? Does the confrontational approach work for China–US relations? This book argues that it is an unrealistic hope to bring China–US relations back to the so-called normal track because the great power competition will be a new normal of China–US relations and the USA will gain more from strategic competition than cooperation in the long run. This book shows that the strategy of “great power cooperation through competition” is more positive and constructive than the approaches of “peaceful coexist” and “maximum pressure.” This book does not intend to provide policy recommendations for governments to consider, but mainly to explain why the great power competition is inevitable and why it is necessary to continuously work with China in some areas through strategic competition. This book alarms the importance of understanding the nature of the Chinese Communist Party during the great power competition and aims to motivate both sides to revisit their foreign policy practice and come up with a better foreign policy strategy of handling China–US relations.
Author(s): Jinghao Zhou
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 290
City: Cham
Acknowledgments
Contents
About the Author
Abbreviations
1 Introduction
2 U.S. Engagement Strategy Partially Failed
Development of China–U.S. Relations
Status of China–U.S. Relations
U.S. Engagement Strategy Failed Inevitably
Conclusion
3 Nature of the Great Power Competition
Conceptualization of the Great Power Competition
When Did the Great Power Competition Begin?
Who Triggered the Great Power Competition?
Objectives of the Great Power Competition
Roles of Other Players in the Great Power Competition
Implications of the Great Power Competition
Conclusion
4 Real Trap of China–U.S. Relations
Does the Thucydides Trap Apply to China–U.S. Relations?
Has the U.S. Fallen into the Kindleberger Trap and the Kennedy Trap?
Economic Perspective Alone Cannot Fully Explain the Great Power Competition
Conclusion
5 Intention of Chinese Policymakers: Cultural Source of the Great Power Competition
Roles of Chinese Culture in Making Foreign Policy
Characteristics of Chinese Culture and the Mindset of Foreign Policymakers
Historical Memory and Chinese Diplomatic Objective
Conclusion
6 China’s Global Expansion and the International Institution
The U.S.-Led International Institutions
Development of China’s Relations with the International Institutions
China Challenges the International Institutions
China Pragmatically Uses the International Institutions
Conclusion
7 China’s Core Interests vs. American Vital Interests
China’s Core Interests Represent CCP’s Interests
American Vital Interests Reflect the Will of the American People
The Cornerstone of American Vital Interests vs. China’s Sharp Power
Conclusion
8 War Is Not Imminent During the Great Power Competition
Will the First Shot Be Fire in the South China Sea?
Will the U.S. Clash with China Over the Taiwan Strait?
Can China Withstand War with the U.S.?
Conclusion
9 The Great Power Competition in the Post-Pandemic Era
U.S. Administrations Made the Same Mistakes
Development Trend of the Great Power Competition
The Great Power Competition Will Strengthen Modern Democracy
Totalitarian China Cannot Rule the World
Conclusion
Selected Readings
Index
