Jonathan R. Strand answers questions about China and the US relationship

Posted about 12 years ago | 0 comment

By Jaime Ortega Simo.

Interview with Jonathan R. Strand
Associate Professor Department of Political Science
University of Nevada, Las Vegas

1) Everyone talks about China and its capability of surpassig the U.S. as a world power. But what about countries like India or Brazil? Are these countries experiencing an undetected growth that could eventually make them supersede a world power like the U.S.A.?

China gets a lot of the popular attention in part because of the size of its population. It is also an economic development curiosity since, unlike Brazil and India, it is a single-party state where the Party is the government and vice versa. This makes China a lot different than, say, a post World War II Japan. India and Brazil also have potential to become dominant powers and of course in regional relations they are very important. The big question with China, however, is whether it will be a supporter of the current world order or seek to supplant the U.S. dominated world political economy. The prospect for economic or other conflict between the U.S. and China is a reason China gets a lot of attention; few people hypothesize future conflict between the U.S. and India or the U.S. and Brazil.

2) China seems like a marble cake that never got mixed. A communist government, that allows economical foreign growth inside its borders and sponsors individual economic freedom for its people. The government however is key for China’s future, so could it be said, that China’s government allows limited individual freedoms to continue their dictatorial communist status. 

There was a time after the fall of the Soviet Union that some observers speculated China, because of how uneven its economic growth was, could also suffer devolution. The Party, however, maintained a monopoly on power and was able to maneuver in a way that increased economic openness while offering very little political reform. The ability of the Party to maintain control hinges on continued economic growth. One of the biggest problems facing the Chinese economy is corruption. 

3) Would the U.S. ever sponsor a revolution in China, considering that the U.S. promotes democratic capitalist government’s and historically despises the idea of communist regimes?  

The problem with such a move by the U.S. is the question of what will replace the Party system? Most American officials will probably agree that Chinese citizens need more freedoms. Another issue, however, is the complex financial and trade relationship between the U.S. and China where the Chinese rely on the American market to sell Chinese-made products and the U.S. relies, in part, on China to buy American sovereign debt. In my view, there is little incentive for American officials to advocate revolution since the alternative to the Party might be politically worse and also upset the delicate status quo in the economic relations between the two countries.

4) Will China ever Change strategies. Will it ever leave communism? Or will it apply something as neo-communism?

The reforms introduced by Deng in the late 1970s moved the Party away from Maoist communism and toward a political system that is not based on ideology but instead is based on the pragmatic need to maintain control. Deng was not an ideologue — indeed this is one reason he often fell out of favor with Mao. Deng was a pragmatist and even long after his death we see a Party system dominated by pragmatic “managers” instead of ideological communists.

5) Isn’t it hypocritical that the U.S. allows free trade with China to continue, but meanwhile the U.S. stresses sanctions to China, especially in regions of interest like the Caucasus, Iran or Sudan? Is this a forced marriage were the wife cheats on the husband while the husband feeds the wife by benefiting himself?

 The foreign policies of most governments reflect some level of hypocrisy. One reason for the difference in U.S. policies toward China and policies toward Iran lies in the fact U.S. officials view China as a status quo power while Iran is viewed as a government that might challenge the status quo, especially in the politically sensitive Middle East. Whether the perceptions of China and Iran are correct only history will know.

6) What is China’s role with Mexico?

China certainly views Mexico as an important trading partner but there have been tensions between the two countries. There were concerns — and rightfully so — by Mexico and other developing countries regarding China’s accession to the World Trade Organization. In fact since 1995 Mexico and other developing countries have filed dozens of complaints with the WTO over Chinese trading practices. I suspect the concerns of manufacturers and others in Mexico regarding Chinese trade will continue for some time.

7) Is the U.S. too weak to impose any serious restrictions on China’s foreign policies for fear of economic retaliation? 

The U.S. and China both have incentives to maintain the economic balance since the U.S. wants cheap consumer goods and China wants investment and skilled jobs. So it is not so much a matter of strength as the U.S. could of course impose harsh trade restrictions on goods from China, but doing so would also greatly harm the U.S. economy. For better or worse, at this point in time, economically speaking China and the U.S. need each other even if this means glossing over their political differences.

Jaime Ortega-Simo

Founder and president of The Daily Journalist, the birthplace of Neo Journalism. Largest community of publishing experts worldwide. Investigative researcher of political, historical, foreign policy and intelligence issues. Award winner, Ohio State University, School of Journalism.

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