Demonizing China gets the U.S. nowhere

Sanctions and tariffs have not changed Beijing's behavior

The following was originally published on May 4, 2023 in Nikkei Asian Review.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Demonizing-China-gets-the-U.S.-nowhere

Photo: The White House

Since Xi Jinping's elevation late last year to a third term as Chinese Communist Party secretary-general, Beijing has launched a major diplomatic offensive, courting European, South American and Middle Eastern states while mending fences with others it had previously menaced, such as Australia.

Yet despite this change of tone, Washington has continued to demonize China, putting it nearly on a level with Russia, whose president has been hounded by an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.

While this approach plays well in the domestic press and makes many in America feel good, it is a terrible way to conduct affairs—and worse, it harms U.S. interests.

Let us state the obvious right up front: There is much about China's behavior, and that of Russia, that is richly deserving of rebuke. But calling out things they do wrong is not the objective; achieving outcomes that benefit American economic and national security objectives is what matters.

China has a long history of stealing American intellectual property, badly mistreating Muslim Uyghurs on their own soil, engaging in unfair trading practices and openly threatening to invade Taiwan if Beijing does not get its way.

In light of such misdeeds, the question arises: What is the best way to mitigate negative Chinese behavior while achieving beneficial outcomes for the U.S.? Regrettably, the foreign policy elite and major opinion leaders in America do not ask that question, instead preferring to reflexively demonize China along with Russia, apparently believing such behavior can publicly shame the two and compel them to bend to Washington's will.

This tendency, frankly speaking, represents a lazy, and sometimes immature, approach to foreign policy—and it is stunningly ineffective.

In March, H.R. McMaster, a former national security adviser and army general, went so far as to describe China and Russia as an "axis of authoritarians, who are a real threat to freedom and to civilized people around the world."

Over the past decade, the U.S. has imposed dozens of sanctions on Beijing and Moscow, but how have these numerous attempts to change their behavior worked out for the U.S.?

Terribly. Biden warned of "unprecedented" levels of sanctions against Russia and President Vladimir Putin if Ukraine was attacked. The threats had no impact on Russian behavior as Putin invaded anyway. There have been at least 10 additional rounds of sanctions against Russia since the war started last year, none of which have turned Moscow from its course.

As U.S. president, Donald Trump launched a trade war with China, imposing tariffs on a broad range of goods in an effort to push Beijing into adopting policies preferred by Washington. Joe Biden has been just as active in imposing sanctions on China and its companies and public officials.

Members of Congress meanwhile have lobbied the White House to adopt a position of "strategic clarity" by openly stating that the U.S. would defend Taiwan from a Chinese attack. Biden himself has several times sought to deter China from attacking by saying America would fight for the island. But have these measures caused Xi to back down from his threats against Taiwan?

Hardly. Xi has continued a massive military buildup and recently told his military leaders to "prepare for war." Likewise, there has been no discernible decrease in China's theft of U.S. intellectual property.

In short, vilifying Beijing and attempting to strong-arm it is not helping the situation and might be making it worse.

A change in approach is urgently needed.

The first necessary step is to recognize China is no longer the developing country that it was in the 1990s but is now a major military and economic power. There are different rules in engaging with an Iraq, Syria or Libya than for a Russia or China.

Second, Washington must recognize there is a great deal to gain from effective relations with China. Last year, the two nations recorded their highest bilateral trade volume ever. There is a massive and growing market in China for U.S. goods and services, and Washington should do all it can, for American consumers and business, to expand access.

Third, the U.S. should at least recognize the possibility of a win-win approach. Dealing with a strong and growing China is going to be hard in the best of circumstances. But it need not be adversarial. There are many areas of mutual interest where the U.S. can work constructively with China in ways that benefit both sides.

The cost to America of maintaining an adversarial relationship with both China and Russia is high and unnecessary.

By moving beyond derogatory rhetoric and reflexive attempts at coercion, Washington will have a better chance at producing positive and beneficial outcomes for U.S. national security and economic prosperity.

What Washington has been doing is failing. It is time to recognize that China and Russia are not as weak as they once were and deal with them in firm but honest ways. The benefit to the U.S. of doing so could be substantial. The cost of failing could be higher than any of us could pay.