US dominance not right way of pivot to Asia
- By Shen Dingli
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E-mail China Daily, February 10, 2015
China welcomes the US' diplomatic rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific. Over the last two years, China and the US have worked to build up their mutual military-to-military trust. As Rice said, "We're building a constructive relationship that expands practical cooperation across a wide spectrum of issues from global health to non-proliferation." And the list continues to expand.
As the UN is approaching the 70th anniversary of its founding, it bears more responsibility in maintaining the post World War II order. Obviously, how the current Japanese government looks at Japan's wartime history will have a big influence on the peace and stability in East Asia. In this context, the US needs to display the leadership it likes to claim and prevent and reverse the emergent Japanese historical revisionism.
Nevertheless, the White House may have invited the Japanese, South Korean and even Indonesian leaders to Washington to stress alliances and partnerships. Last year, the Obama administration declared the US-Japan Security Treaty covered the Diaoyu Islands, explicitly siding with Japan in its territorial dispute with China over the islands. With South Korea, the US is pressing to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system, which is likely to further excite a regional arms race. With Indonesia and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the US has been keen to push for freedom of navigation, aspiring to reclaim its regional dominance.
Washington would do better to weigh the cost-effectiveness of inciting more regional disputes backed by its arms against truly moderating its allies and friends to approach differences through dialogue. It is welcome to hear that the US doesn't believe that a China-US conflict is inevitable, but the White House should back up its words with actions. An honest and impartial adherence to the regional order based on international law, rather than US dominance, is the ultimate answer.
The author is a professor and associate dean at Institute of International Studies, Fudan University.
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