The United States and China in Power Transition - Strategic Studies ...

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
We can’t predict with certainty what the future will
bring, but we can be certain about the issues that will
define our times. And we also know this: The relationship
between the United States and China will shape
the 21st century. . . . 1
President Barack Obama
This is quite a calculated statement of the U.S.-China
relationship. On the one hand, the President signals
that the United States can no longer shape the world
solely in its image or with U.S. unilateral efforts; but
has to invite China to help with the mission. On the
other, the President’s remarks express concern for the
tenuous nature of the U.S.-China relationship. Indeed,
there are many unsettled issues in this relationship,
most of which are about the prospect of China’s projected
rise and its impact on the United States and the
U.S.-led international order. Can China continue with
success in its reforms and reach the goals set by its
modernization plan (projected well into the mid-century)?
While many aspects of China, most notably its
economy, have been integrated into the international
system (与国际接轨), its authoritarian government
still insists on going its own way, most likely for a long
time to come. Can Chinese leaders continue to muddle
through China’s changes without embracing genuine
political modernization? Moreover, although China
is the world’s longest-surviving nation, its nation
building is still unfinished. Can China consolidate its
national unity with Taiwan, Tibet, and Xinjiang, and
settle the disputed territories in the East and South
1