China’s Reaction to U.S. Strategy

Since Obama has been in charge of the White House, the U.S. government has actively initiated a so-called “clever strength” strategy, which emphasizes the utilization of two-fold tactics: soft and hard diplomacy. Remolding the strength of the U.S.’s world leadership, particularly the strategy used towards China, is up to the president and members of Congress, down to each senior official and policy advisor. They have been flattering China with all kinds of diplomatic parlance like “Chimerica”, “G2”, “row the same boat”, “a global partner” and so on, all of a sudden dubbing China “the century’s newly appointed king.” 　

In fact, this is precisely a brilliant diplomatic show of U.S. “clever strength” towards China, a part of the American soft strategy. On the one hand, the United States is trying to explore using a “soft hand” to “touch” Chinese government, lulling China’s fighting will to reduce its strong competition against America. The U.S. is hoping China gets a big head and, in feeling self-important, will agree with U.S. proposals such as climate change, alternative energy, an agreement to purchase more national debt, etc. On the other hand, the U.S.’s soft power strategy is the attempt, in the economic, energy, political freedom, and human rights domains, to implement a so-called “reformed diplomacy.” This is a system where the government directs backstage while international corporations and non-governmental organizations operate out front. The hope is that mass media and world public opinion will coordinate, causing China to make changes based on international social pressure. In the final analysis, America’s soft strategy towards China is the only option the U.S. can take when facing its own decline and China’s rapid rise.

How to deal with this type of soft strategy will challenge China’s strategic wisdom and diplomatic ability after its integration into globalization.

Actually, regarding the United States’ adoption of soft strategy, China does not need to be too panic-stricken, so long as it firmly holds the basic principles of an international relationship. It needs to be sufficiently able to turn calamities into blessings and danger into safety. In addition to the cheerful song and laughter in the relationships between countries, there is an ever-growing competition for national interests and benefits, and even more defending of the same. Guarding the sovereignty, security, and development of fundamental interests is the center of all of China’s diplomatic actions in this new era. How to better serve the majority of the populace’s fundamental interests and improve the level of diplomatic service should also be considered in diplomacy. Therefore, when facing the U.S.’s double-edged foreign policy, China must correspondingly adopt a similar dual edged strategy.

From the soft edge angle, China definitely does not need to dredge up former battles in Sino-U.S. relations, but rather look to the future; China needs to push the China-U.S. friendship. As the two giant elephants in the world political field, China and the U.S., regardless of the degree of conflict, both will unavoidably inflict collateral damage to other countries’ steady development. Therefore, for the maintenance of world peace and the promotion of common development, China certainly should reciprocate the “humbleness” and “tenderness” from the other side of the Pacific Ocean. As long as there is friendliness shown towards China, no matter whether it is from the bottom of Americans’ hearts, China needs to put enough warmth and friendliness into relations and welcome all the speeches and actions that focus on friendship between the U.S. and China. This is not only for hospitality, but also for the political needs to win the support of world public opinion.

From the hard-edged side of their strategy of relations with the U.S., it is necessary for China to consolidate its own foundation, enhance its ability to deal with external challenges, and proactively deal with danger and challenges from various angles. This requires certain toughness. In handling the economic, social, political, and security affairs, as long as China can handle its own affairs properly with a positive attitude of proactive reform, external pressure should not be frightening. For instance, in dealing with a hot topic, China must not concede any matter of principle, be positive and flexible in dealing with concrete issues, and not internationalize or complicate problems. It must adapt to a modern government’s way of administration to manage the country: resolve political issues through legislation, social issues through the administrative process, and public issues through academic discussion. This will gradually lead to the ability to deal with hard issues appropriately by dealing with them in the correct context. Of course, all issues must be dealt with proactively and cannot be simplified into either “act tough” or “compromise” categories simply because they may have international implications. Hiding problems, being contradictory, and avoiding troublesome issues will not be helpful to the U.S.-China relationship, and it is certainly not acceptable.

When dealing with U.S. soft strategy towards China, it is very important to master switching between soft and hard power. The core part of the U.S. soft strategy policy is to emphasize improving strategic transformation ability; the essential point is to call attention to strategic think tanks that propose strategy and advice, not to adhere stubbornly to one type of tactic. Today’s U.S. may be full of warm spring breezes, but could possibly turn into a storm tomorrow; the change from clear to cloudy will completely depend upon the extent of America’s realization of strategic benefits in the world. Perhaps only Americans can act from capricious notions; other countries often feel helpless about U.S vagary. Therefore, when China responds to U.S. soft strategy, it must fully grasp the dual nature and ambiguity of the strategy, be adept to preparing in advance, expect the enemy to anticipate action, and make plans before the move. Only in this way can China prevent outside control.