US Abstracts

Panel 8: The United States and China: Bilateral Relations and Arms Control Cooperation

Sino-American Relations: Cooperation and Competition

David Shambaugh

Current and future US-China relations are defined by both cooperation and competition. The areas of the deepest disputes relate to issues of high-security such as alliances, security architecture of East Asia missile defenses and humanitarian intervention. Yet, the US and China also have a multiplicity of common interest on "low security" issues such as drug trafficking, terrorism, and illegal immigration. The US and China should maximize their cooperation by managing their competition and should avoid sliding into an adversarial relationship. While the US and China may be "strategic competitors" there is no reason that they should become adversaries or even enemies. The Chinese draw a false distinction between being friends (pengyou) and enemy (diren); the continuum of relations includes far more stages that these two extremes. Along these lines, the US and China should begin to think of their relationship in a more nuanced fashion than simply swinging between two extremes. Such a shift in perspective will facilitate more productive discussions about arms control and nonproliferation issues.

David Shambaugh is Professor of Political Science & International Affairs and Director of the China Policy Program, Elliot School of International Affairs, Georgetown University. He is also a nonresident senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Studies Program at the Center of Northeast Asian Policy Studies, The Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C.

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