October 27, 2017
Washington Has a Bad Case of China ADHD
As global attention fixes on the Trump administration’s North Korea and Iran policies, the White House is preparing for another consequential policy shift that’s gone almost unnoticed in comparison — this time on China. Reports suggest the Trump administration will soon adopt a more hard-edged strategy toward China’s unfair trade practices and pursuit of American technology, among other issues. In theory, this would represent a major departure from how the United States has approached China, now the world’s second-largest economy and military spender.
Yet the Trump administration’s ability to translate this new approach into sustained action remains in question. Multiple U.S. administrations have tried, and failed, to focus attention on a rising China.
George W. Bush’s national security team came into office determined to elevate China as a long-term strategic focus. The April 2001 collision of a Chinese fighter jet with a U.S. surveillance aircraft — and the tense standoff that followed — reinforced this perspective. By September 2001, the Pentagon was finalizing its Defense Strategy Review, which embraced great power competition with China.
Read the full op-ed in Foreign Policy.
More from CNAS
-
Commentary
Indo-Pacific Security / Energy, Economics & Security / Technology & National Security
Selling AI Chips Won’t Keep China Hooked on U.S. TechnologyU.S. policy should not rest on the illusion that selling chips can trap China inside the American tech ecosystem....
By Janet Egan
-
Will New Delhi-Beijing Move Beyond Friction Points? | Ex-White Official On India-China Reset
Video
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that India and China, as two major economies, must work together to bring stability to the global economic order. NDTV's Gaurie Dwi...
By Lisa Curtis
-
How Big Will China’s Nuclear Arsenal Get?
Commentary
China’s nuclear expansion is already feeding an arms race—a contest that is accelerating partly because the finish line remains unknown....
By Jacob Stokes
-
China Military Scholar Elsa Kania on the PLA’s Dramatic Modernisation
Podcast
Today we speak with Elsa B. Kania, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, about China’s military modernisation. How good is the People’s Liberation A...
By Elsa B. Kania
