By Shannon Tiezzi
There isn’t a strict policy of containment, but the sentiment remains.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of speaking at a panel discussing tensions in the South China Sea, hosted by the Project for the Study of the 21st Century. At the very end of the event, one audience member raised a question that is central to the U.S.-China relationship today: China believes the U.S. is seeking to contain its rise. Is Beijing right?
To listen to U.S. policymakers, the answer is unequivocally no. On his first visit to China, in November 2009, Obama explicitly addressed the issue: “[W]e do not seek to contain China’s rise. On the contrary, we welcome China as a strong and prosperous and successful member of the community of nations.”
The rhetoric has been consistent throughout Obama’s administration. In July 2014, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reassured his Chinese hosts that “the U.S. is not, as we have said many times, in a rivalry competition with China in terms of trying to contain it or otherwise.” In November 2014, during Obama’s second visit to China, he sought to“debunk the notion… that our pivot to Asia is about containing China.”
On one level, this is absolutely true. But at the same time, it’s false. It all depends on how we define the term “containment” and what that actually implies about the United States’ goals vis-à-vis China. Let me explain.
Read the full story at The Diplomat