In the shadow of the pretense that Sino-US relations were improved by the Xi-Obama summit and are now guided by an understanding to pursue a “new type of great power relations,” Chinese writings convey a darker tone about security in the region. In spite of the overtures in Susan Rice’s Georgetown remarks in November and that were expected from Joe Biden’s visit to Beijing in December, Chinese continue to demonize Japan and express no inclination to find a way forward on trouble spots. The US government posture noticeably hardened with statements by Daniel Russel and later by John Kerry when he held briefings in Seoul and Beijing. After the Kerry visit to Beijing, a TV interview transcript (new.sohu.com on February 14 quoting Song Xiaojun at CCTV and Phoenix Television) explained that Kerry had to react to China’s call for a “new type of relationship by which China understands a relationship in which a rising power would not contend the existing power for global leadership,” while Kerry pressed for China to play a bigger role in pushing North Korea, “given that the Obama administration needs to show some progress on this issue prior to the upcoming midterm election and the Nuclear Security Summit.” It is as if China is willing to do favors for Obama by being more active on North Korea and not seeking global leadership, but this leaves unsaid what China expects in return in a regional context. Over the two months between Biden and Kerry’s trips, there had been negative fallout from Abe’s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine and his Davos comments comparing China’s current posture to that of Germany pre-WWI. In this deteriorating atmosphere, Chinese sources were, on the one hand, claiming that US relations were still on track, and on the other, criticizing the US regional approach. It is becoming ever more essential to study Chinese thinking closely.

Read full article at www.theasanforum.org.