Securitization of US-CHINA Relations: A Catalyst for Confrontation

Abstract

Securitization theory, an emerging perspective in the contemporary international system where states view their relations with other states through this theoretical framework. This theory explains how one state shape a non-security issue into a security issue. The United States for the past few years has been portraying China as an existential threat to its vital national interest and the interests of the global community at large. This threat perception and cold war mentality have been portrayed at all levels and in every discourse, with some intellectuals trying to link this to the ‘Thucydides Trap’. The study uses qualitative research methodology, relying on secondary data from different articles, book journals, interview transcripts, and other important sources. Discourse analysis has been used to analyze secondary data. The purpose of this paper is to understand and comprehend how this relationship has been securitized, evolving from engagement to confrontation. The study also seeks to determine whether such construction of China’s image is empirically justifiable or is merely based on rhetoric and propaganda to contain its rise. Furthermore, it explores how the potential of securitization can increase the intensity of already deteriorating relations between the US and China toward confrontation. To sum up, the importance of securitization and its impact on the dynamics between the two nations has been thoroughly discussed.