US Cold War with China ‘is not designed by anybody’

Xiang Lanxin on TDM Talk Show

To the United States, the brief optimism of the post-Cold War years has came to an end.  A decade of disastrous military campaigns, financial crisis and emergence of new regional and global powers, laid to rest hopes of an American “End of History.”
Yet, instead of refocusing itself on the domestic sphere, the US recently unveiled a long term strategic shift to Asia, or as Hillary Clinton dubbed it, “America’s Pacific Century.”
This move has led many commentators to sound the alarms of a new Cold War, this time between the US and China. Among them is Xiang Lanxin, a Professor of International Relations at Geneva’s Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies and a Visiting Professor at the University of Saint Joseph.
“I don’t think Washington takes China as ‘militarily challenging’ as the former Soviet Union. But on the other hand China is different from the Soviet Union in terms of rapid development,” said Professor Xiang Lanxin yesterday on TDM Talk Show.
China’s rapid development is most obvious in its economy and military sectors.
Experts predict that China’s GDP will probably surpass that of US in the near future, and its military development also pose a serious challenge to the US.
But Professor Xiang stressed that China is not yet ready to go neck to neck with Washington.
“I think China is not quite ready to be a ‘global player’, in terms of these called ‘number 2 Player’,” said Xiang. “I don’t think psychologically they are very well prepared and militarily – certainly it’s still way behind United States at least for 30 to 40 years.”
But then again, it’s not in China’s interest to replace the United States, said the Professor.
“China’s number one priority is domestic stability and an extended period, for as long as possible, a peaceful international environment. This is what they’re looking for,” Xiang said.

Talks of Cold War…why now?

For decades, the United States have established military bases on China’s doorsteps.
Why have talks of a possible ‘second cold war’ emerged only now?
“The United States throughout the Cold War and even after the Cold War has consistently over extended its power by making too many commitments, especially military commitments,” said the Professor. “But for the last 10 to 15 years, because of the so called ‘war on terror’, United States diverted most of its resources towards the Middle East.”
The ‘war on terror’ gave Asia room to develop its own ‘military base’ – one big enough to threaten the United States as the world’s leading power.
“East Asia began to build their own regional mechanism, trying to resolve their own problems. But at the very moment, the East Asians or Southeast Asians seem to be succeeding in organizing a new system. So when United States finished with the confrontation in the Middle East, they finally decided to divert its attention towards East Asia,” said Xiang.

Historical Parallels

When asked if China is facing what the Soviet Union was facing after the World War II, Xiang said:
“The cold war is not designed by anybody.”
Xiang added that no policies were designed to the Cold War.
“A Cold War is a result of a political stalemate, lack of basic strategic trust between the two major players and there is a potential of military confrontation,” – and that is what’s historically similar to current US-China relations.
“It is a design in the end to prevent a war, or to maintain a kind of strategic stability,” added Xiang.
On the contrary, Xiang said that just like the Soviets, China doesn’t have a military capacity that matches that of the US. As well, China does not have an ideological model they want to export to the rest of the world.
“The Chinese civilization is a civilization that is not interested in spreading its own value system,” said the Professor.

Washington’s real agenda

“The United States is afraid of being replaced, or being number two, and this is the historic moment like every historic empire before. There’s a certain sense of desperation, to [use] whatever means to maintain the number one position,” said Xiang.
Calling this a ‘defensive offensive strategy’, Xiang said the US doesn’t have much left to maintain its ‘second to none’ position.
“Economically US has become very weak, relatively speaking, so military capacity is the only card in their hands. So for a declining empire, using military empire using military capacity to maintain its position for as long as possible – this is what Washington’s real agenda is.”