A ‘Containment’ Mindset Must Not Become an Obstacle to China-US Military Relations

The 15th Shangri-La Dialogue was held from June 3 to 5 in Singapore. Around 600 defense ministry officials, military leaders and specialist scholars from around the world expressed their frank views on the state of the region’s security and on other security topics of participant interest. As always, the China-U.S. relationship, particularly the China-U.S. military relationship, was a major focus.

In a keynote speech at the dialogue on June 4, United States Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter claimed that, against a backdrop of increasing international cooperation in Asia, China was erecting a “Great Wall of self-isolation.” Such rationalization clearly disregards the basic facts of the Asia-Pacific region as a whole and recalls a Cold War mentality. Such thinking from Carter, whose position of leadership over the U.S. military is second only to the president, is clearly unhelpful for the development of the two countries’ bilateral military relationship.

A healthy and stable bilateral military relationship has an important influence on the greater China-U.S. bilateral relationship. The building of a new type of great power relationship requires the corresponding building of a new type of bilateral military relationship. In the years since the 2013 Sunnylands presidential summit, the overall relationship between the Chinese and U.S. militaries has developed in a generally positive direction.

The two militaries have recently taken historic strides in the establishment of mutual trust mechanisms by establishing protocols for mutual notification of large military operations and formulating safety rules for air and maritime encounters. Progress in pragmatic exchanges and cooperation has been comparatively smooth, with particular progress in the areas of high-level exchanges, institutionalized dialogue and talks, young officer exchanges and joint exercises and training. Such progress was particularly evident in 2014, when the Chinese military participated for the first time in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise organized by the U.S. Navy. China’s participation marked a historic breakthrough in the bilateral military relationship, and this year five Chinese navy warships will again join in the U.S. Navy-led RIMPAC exercise, participating to an even greater degree.

Currently, China-U.S. military relations remain unstable, and it is the lack of strategic mutual trust that has the greatest effect on the health and stable development of the military relationship. The problem stems mainly from the U.S. side. First, the U.S. is unwilling to give up its jealous suspicion and wariness of China. It holds prejudice against the ordinary growth of the Chinese military, doubting the motivation and intention behind increasing Chinese military power. Yet, in fact, China needs a peaceful and stable external environment now more than it has at any other time.

Second, the U.S. has proven completely unable to respect China’s core interests and major concerns. Three obstacles have long vexed the development of China-U.S. military relations, and recently they have become more prominent: U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, the encroachment of U.S. reconnaissance crafts and discriminatory American laws. The U.S. Navy’s recent so-called “freedom of navigation” operations within the maritime area of the Spratly Islands and the territorial waters of the Paracel Islands have severely affected inter-military trust.

Third, the idea of Chinese containment still finds a market within the United States government, military, Congress and think tanks; in particular, the immense strategic dividend the Cold War brought the United States causes some to feel a special attachment to a policy of containment through the formation of alliances.

The United States and China are, respectively, the world’s largest developed and developing countries, and they hold joint responsibility for world peace, stability and prosperity. Implementation of the consensus reached by the Chinese and U.S. presidents, a continuation of the trend of a positive development of the bilateral military relationship, and a promotion of such development along a healthy and stable track – these not only meet the basic interests of the two countries but also accord with the expectations of the majority of countries in the region and world. During the three days of the Shangri-La Dialogue, most countries’ military leaders stated that they do not hope to see antagonism between the U.S. and Chinese militaries in the region, and that they are unwilling to choose between or align with either side.

China and the U.S. should both consider a long-term strategic view and not be blinded by immediate selfish interests. They should overcome antagonism, seek out common ground while respecting differences, and seek mutual benefit. There is room enough in the expansive Pacific Ocean to accommodate both great powers. The two sides should respect the consensus reached by their presidents on the development of a bilateral military relationship and appropriately resolve and keep under control any contradictions or disagreements, in accordance with the principles of “respect, mutual trust, equality and mutual benefit.” They should also, according to the same principles, strengthen dialogue, expand communication and cooperation, increase mutual understanding, strive to jointly develop a healthy and stable bilateral military relationship, and bring about a happy state of regional security and world peace.

The author is a researcher at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute.