China has engaged in cyber-intrusions that have resulted in the theft of US citizens’ personal information, US companies’ intellectual property, and the US military’s secrets. Beijing has not stopped building artificial islands in an attempt to control the South China Sea, a waterway vital for US security and prosperity. China’s crackdown on human rights is at its worst in decades. In general, President Xi Jinping’s behavior is not worthy of a 21-gun salute and the pomp and circumstance of a state dinner, but tough-minded diplomacy with China is always needed.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and First Lady Peng Liyuan arrive at Paine Field in Everett, Washington, September 22, 2015. Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet US tech titans and tour Boeing Co’s biggest factory and Microsoft Corp’s sprawling campus near Seattle this week as he kicks off a US visit that also includes a black-tie state dinner at the White House hosted by President Barack Obama. REUTERS/David Ryder.
With Xi Jinping in town, President Obama should accomplish the following:
First, President Xi should understand that the United States will meet any cyber espionage with a proportional but decisive response. Deterrence, not a meaningless cyber “arms control deal,” has a chance to put an end to attacks against America.
Second, Obama must demonstrate — through private talks with Xi and through policy actions — that the US will not allow China to claim international waters as its own. Coercion of American allies and friends will only lead to China’s isolation in the Asia-Pacific region.
Third, the US must publicly call for the release of political dissidents such as Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, who was imprisoned for the crime of “speaking out.”
Finally, while our economic relationship with China is important, diplomacy with China must press Beijing to adopt real market reforms so the US economy is not vulnerable to the whims of the Chinese Communist Party’s market manipulations.
The US should continue to engage with China, but only as a part of an overall “unequal engagement” strategy with Asia. US allies, friends, and partners should be on the receiving end of the bulk of US diplomatic energy and ambition in the region. Good relations with Japan, Australia, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, India, Malaysia and Singapore should be America’s first priority in Asia.
The Sino-American relationship should not be overstated or overblown into something that it is not. China is not an equal power in moral, economic, or strategic terms. The US does not need a “new model of great power relations” or any other new slogan to describe the relationship. Instead, US-China diplomacy should be conducted in a workmanlike fashion to maintain a modicum of strategic stability, ensure the good working order of the global economic system, and press for improvements in China’s respect for human rights.
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