How China can respond to a changing US

VISITING the US recently, I was told by virtually every American I met that attitudes towards China had shifted. This phenomenon, they claimed, cut across bipartisan lines as well as government, business and academic circles. The US was frustrated at not having shaped China in its own image, despite bringing the country into the World Trade Organization (WTO) and helping to enable its economic take-off. Instead, China had "ripped off" the US by taking advantage of it in trade and business. There was concern at how fast China was climbing up the global economic and technological ladder, and that its military was threatening to "elbow out" the US from Asia.

Although attitudes may have changed, I am not convinced that they have settled. Judging from American history, major strategies are usually shaped through trial and error, in response to specific challenges. Consensus develops along the way. Any adjustment in the US's posture towards China will therefore take time. This also means that the final outcome will be affected by how the two countries act and react in the coming months and years.

In evaluating next steps, the Chinese people first have to ask whether US criticisms are fair. It is true that economic growth has not produced in China a political system similar to the US's. Interestingly, I recall attending an American government programme in the mid-1990s designed for diplomats from developing nations. The topic was US security strategy and policymaking. I had one question: What were America's strategic objectives for the post-Cold War era? The answer was unambiguous: to promote US-style democracy and human rights worldwide. And indeed, the US has pursued those goals consistently over the last two decades, at huge cost to itself and others.