China-US relations in post-cold war
WITH every second see-saw in the international scenario, the Sino-US diplomatic relations are at centre stage.
Whether it is trade war between the two giants, blame game amidst Coronavirus Pandemic or bombarding each other with new strategies of their own.
Even today when Russia-Ukraine crisis is the burning issue at the international arena, US-China rivalry seems to be stealing the show by releasing statements against each other.
Whole world seems to be affected by it, particularly Indo-Pacific region that has come to limelight for being the showdown region of Sino-US rivalry.
Their relations are bearing great potential to shape the future international politics as these are the most important relations of this century.
Soon after the end of Cold War, US turned to be sole mighty superpower on the globe, but this supremacy of US has been put in jeopardy by China’s emergence as one of the major powers particularly in economic domain.
Deng Xiaoping of China deserves credit for efficiently and effectively leading Beijing on the path of development and prosperity that has borne fruit by making China an economic giant.
In this situation, it is quite understandable that the relations between both the countries cannot be called as warm relations.
However, the tricky situation here is that it is extremely difficult for both to boycott each other because of complex interdependence despite animosity.
It is not that both the countries have been enjoying cordial relations previously, their relations have a history of their own.
They have witnessed a series of twists and turns particularly during and after the cold war.
Since the establishment of China, US has been the epitome of a capitalist society and China was following communism.
It was quite natural that their relations were not that great to begin with. They were at odds with each other during Korea and Vietnam wars.
But soon after, a twist in Sino-US relations made appearance after Sino-Soviet split causing China to turn to the US.
After a period of good relations, Tiananmen Square Massacre in Beijing caused set-back to Sino-US relations. In 2000, trade initiated between both, and China joined World Trade Organization (WTO).
Soon China became the largest creditor of US and surpassed Japan as second largest economy by 2010.
The rapid growth of China became a major source of irritation for the US which made the US initiate “Pivot to Asia.
” China also became more assertive under President Xi Jinping. China’s mega project Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)made US more committed to its Indo-Pacific Strategy.
In the wake of Russia-Ukraine war, China’s support for Russia has made US consider putting sanctions on China as well.
But it would not be an easy task considering China’s importance in global economy and supply chain.
US will be facing grave consequences of sanctioning China as they are major trading partners of each other.
China recently released a statement saying that “China is an economic bomb” which effectively highlights China’s importance.
Both the countries are trying to curb each other’s influence by introducing various strategies and initiating cooperation with different international partners across the globe on economic, strategic, political and diplomatic level.
Importantly, the recent statement in this regard is given by President Xi Jinping, in which he has talked about Global Security Initiative (GSI) as a measure to counter Indo-Pacific Strategy of US.
The effectiveness of President Xi Jinping’s strategy is yet to be seen and will be decided as the future unfolds.
But one thing is for certain that their competition is going to play a decisive role in world politics.
