In the last few years, the People’s Republic of China has stood as a serious global contender, pushing its influence around different fields and against the norm. As China escalates its tactics, such as militarizing the South China Sea islands and getting involved in border disputes, the U.S. is obligated to defend its interests while at the same time ensuring peace and cooperation in this region. This paper provides a review of strategic methods that are needed for the USA to prevent more actions by China that are aimed at hurting its interests and encourages China to abide by the norms that have been established.
To preserve and elevate global peace, the United States can terminate China’s disruptive actions and make peace through specific tools of national power. Therefore, the U.S. can use military, economic, diplomatic, and informational tools to contain China’s influence. The U.S. can bolster its military presence in the region through a military approach. Based on Furse (2022), the U.S. can reinforce its military presence in the Indo-Pacific region by applying additional resources, such as ships and troops, to demonstrate its firm commitment and capability. In addition, the U.S. can participate in the Joint Military Exercises. Conducting joint military exercises with interested allies and regional partners can show collective deterrence against Chinese aggression and craft interoperability among allied forces. Another alternative would be to use tactical messages, such as publicizing military readiness and capabilities that could discourage a Chinese misadventure by pointing out the risks and penalties of an escalation.
Although a military approach can be the best way to minimize China’s influence in the region, Gruffydd-Jones (2019) underscores that an economic approach can mitigate China’s influence. By employing measures such as sanctions and export controls, the United States can confront Chinese companies involved in dangerous activities, such as human rights abuses. Moreover, through trade restrictions against Chinese products and investments, the United States can also force the country to follow international norms and protect American industries from unfair competition. Furthermore, the U.S. should set up more authoritarian investment screening tools to reduce the chances of Chinese buyouts of sensitive U.S. technologies and critical infrastructure. In addition, the United States will be able to avert China’s potential exploitation of the South China Sea. The U.S. side could take an additional measure to reduce the rising powers of China. Based on Gruffydd-Jones (2019), the U.S. can strengthen the Indo-Pacific region through diplomacy and security partnerships, which will help deter China’s aggressive behaviour.
Furthermore, the United States can utilize multilateral forums like Quad platforms that intensify diplomatic pressure on China for the sake of international regulations and rules. Shifting to diplomatic avenues as the means for dialogues gives a field for de-escalation and conflict resolution that avoids miscalculation or unintended escalation. Zhang et al. (2019) observed that the USA can counter China’s growing influence through informational politics. One of the main strategies of the information approach is the implementation of strategic communication activities to make the world aware of the illegal operations of the Chinese. Additionally, the U.S. could deploy public diplomacy to eradicate Chinese propaganda and regional operations in East Asia. Utilizing diplomacy, the U.S. can thus enhance democratic resilience in the Indo-Pacific. However, during the diplomatic session, the United States can use top-level talks with Chinese leaders to find a way of bringing to light the necessity of cooperation and the observance of the established norms (Wang et al., 2020). However, the involvement of NGOs and others from two countries can play a role in determining and structuring the peace process. This approach can also foster the growth of common trust, for example, through joint crisis management exercises for the army or police commanders, which may increase mutual trust.
The United States can achieve this through bilateral and multilateral trade agreements with fair terms for all parties involved. By doing this, the U.S. will ensure a level playing field for intellectual property rights and market access but enforce the existing legal framework.
On the contrary, giving investment incentives and market channels for Chinese enterprises will be the way to implement these global rules. The U.S. has more avenues to deal with China through its increasing authority in Indo-China using military instruments. As a result, the U.S. Army can use military-to-military confidence-building means, like joint training and exchanges, to ease tensions and build the army’s trust in its counterparts. Furthermore, the U.S. can negotiate arms control with China to resolve strategic stability issues and ensure China does not abuse advanced technologies. By applying the noted specific instruments of national power in a coordinated and strategic manner, this study underlines that the United States can incentivize China to act more on agreed global treaties.
References
Furse, T. (2022). The political economy of U.S. maritime strategy in the Indo-Pacific. The Pacific Review, 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/09512748.2022.2111455
Gruffydd-Jones, J. J. (2019). Citizens and Condemnation: Strategic Uses of International Human Rights Pressure in Authoritarian States. Comparative Political Studies, 52(4), 579–612. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414018784066
Wang, Y., Cao, H., Yuan, Y., & Zhang, R. (2020). Empowerment through emotional connection and capacity building: Public participation through environmental non-governmental organizations. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 80, 106319. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2019.106319
Zhang, D., Lei, L., Ji, Q., & Kutan, A. M. (2019). Economic policy uncertainty in the U.S. and China and their impact on the global markets. Economic Modelling, 79, 47–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2018.09.028
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