Ever since taking office, the Bush Administration has struggled to define its stance on the most critical long-term strategic issue facing the United States: whether to view China as a future military adversary, and plan accordingly, or to see it as a rival player in the global capitalist system. Representatives of both perspectives are nestled in top Administration circles, and there have been periodic swings of the pendulum toward one side or the other. But after a four-year period in which neither outlook appeared dominant, the pendulum has now swung conspicuously toward the anti-Chinese, prepare-for-war position. Three events signal this altered stance.
See also “Project for a New Chinese Century: Beijing plans for national greatness” from the Weekly Standard (via A Glimpse of the World blog, “Changing Places: China and the United States” from Z Magazine, and “Hedging China with FTAs” from Asia Times.
