An Analysis of Changes of Military Strategies of the United States and China

Abstract

Recently China has begun to adopt aggressive approaches to the territorial disputes in South China Sea and East China Sea. In that context, China has pursued ‘Area Denial/Anti-Access" strategy in order to prevent access of the U.S. military into the Chinese coast. On this other side, the United States has employed a containment policy toward China to nullify the Chinese anti-access strategy. In other words, there is a confrontation between Chinese anti-access strategy and U.S. access strategy in East Asia. Why China adopted aggressive behavior to the other states with regard to territorial disputes in South China Sea and East China Sea unlike it"s ‘peaceful rise" policy? Why the United States build up the military strength against China and adopted a containment policy toward China despite the economic crisis? Which approach could be more appropriate in explaining the changes of the U.S. and China"s military strategy?<BR> In this sense, this study is to define the major factors that led the Chinese aggressive behavior and the U.S. containment policy toward China. Also, it attempts to verify the arguments of realism and constructivism about the policies of the U.S. and China by analyzing the processes of military strategies formation of the both states. As results of the case studies, as China has gained ‘a powerful state" identity through both rapid economic growth and interactions with other states, it began to extend concept of it"s ‘core interest" to promote national interest. In that context, China has exerted tough behavior and aggressive policies to protect it"s ‘core interest" in conflict issue-areas based on identity of a powerful state. On the other hand, the United States which had conceived China as ‘a strategic partner" began to change it"s perception of China since China implemented test fire of missiles near Taiwan. The Chinese missile tests against Taiwan made the U.S. to believe China as ‘a status quo breaker" or ‘a competitor". The changed Chinese identity made the U.S. to adopt a containment policy toward China because it believed China as ‘a competitor" and ‘challenger" that could threaten the existing international order.<BR> In conclusion, change of capabilities between the U.S. and China to a symmetrical distribution has not automatically generated the Chinese tough behavior and U.S. containment policy toward China unlike the arguments of realism. They have been emerged by changes of identity about each other from ‘a strategic partner" to ‘a competitor" which resulted from interactions between the U.S. and China as constructivism argues.