Xi, a strong and powerful Chinese leader, bending even a rapidly modernizing Chinese Army to his will

The US Needs A Better Plan 

For Handling The Rise Of China

by RALPH A. COSSA AND BRAD GLOSSERMAN

Remember when the US used to call on China to step up and be 

a

“responsible stakeholder”? Well, be careful what you wish for.

Xi Jinping used the bully pulpit provided by China’s hosting of this year’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Meeting last month to present China (and himself) as the new power in Asia.

He also touted his new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) initiative while calling for the conclusion of a Free Trade Agreement of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP), originally a US initiative.

“We are getting killed here,” confided one Asia-based US official, pointing to two headlines in that day’s paper: one heralded progress in ROK-China trade negotiations; the other noted US efforts to block the AIIB while seemingly rejecting China’s efforts to move forward on the FTAAP.

Echoes of this dismay are being heard throughout the region. While President Obama’s Asia tour is touted as a success for the administration – and there were some notable accomplishments – the contrast with Chinese diplomacy was striking.

Beijing is increasingly seen as a nuanced and aggressive actor, responding to regional needs (and its own), while Washington is playing defense, working to block new initiatives and seemingly struggling to keep pace with China.

Meanwhile, those convinced (wrongly in our view) that the US rebalance is really aimed at somehow containing China point to these obstructionist efforts as confirming their worst suspicions.

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