China hawks on the rise in Washington

THE Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is one of the oldest and most respected American think tanks. Founded in 1921, the CFR membership has included leading politicians, including former US presidents, secretaries of states, and CIA directors, bankers and lawyers, professors and top journalists. And it is known for being the voice of the so-called foreign policy establishment and for advancing a centrist and internationalist US global strategy.

In general, no one expects the experts at the CFR to issue policy papers that harshly criticise the foreign policy pursued by an incumbent president, especially when it comes to the major issues on Washington's agenda, like US policy towards China.

If anything, since the American opening to China in the early 1970s, the CFR has served as a cheerleader for economic and diplomatic engagement with Beijing and embraced a bullish stand with regard to the future of Sino-American relationship.