Mainland China Debates U.S. Pivot/Rebalancing to Asia

Abstract

The U.S. strategy of pivot/rebalancing to Asia, unveiled during the first Obama term, has generated and still generating in mainland China heated debate about the nature and implications of the American strategy. How do strategic analysts in mainland China assess the U.S. pivot/rebalancing to Asia and what are the policy prescriptions they provide to the leadership in Beijing? In this paper, we outline the scholarly and policy debates in mainland China regarding the U.S. pivot/rebalancing strategy. In the process of doing so, we will examine the theoretical outlook of the Chinese discourses. We will also show that whereas policy makers in mainland China largely remain sober-minded and stress the importance of cooperative, non-adversarial relations with the United States, the U.S. pivot/rebalancing strategy has nevertheless increased the sentiment of insecurity and sense of being threatened among elites and the public in mainland China. As a result, the U.S. pivot/rebalancing has contributed to the emerging security dilemma between mainland China and the United States.