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

way China develops, and guard against China in case
it turns bad. With respect to China’s unsettled external
problems, the United States will continue to be at
odds with China’s authoritarian government over the
nature of its claimed interests and the way this government
handles disputes. In short, the ideological
divide between China and the United States ensures
that the two governments do not take each other with
trust and do not see eye to eye on each other’s vital
interests. 204 Underpinning the U.S. sense of ideological
superiority over China is the superpower’s influential
and globally-positioned material power. This power
allows the United States to apply a heavy-handed approach
to international affairs. The U.S. dealings with
China are no exception.
The rise of China is now putting the U.S. capability
in question. Chinese PLA Senior Colonel Liu Mingfu
(刘明福) argues that ideological conflict is only a
smokescreen, and the real problem of the United
States with China is its hard power development. Liu
asserts that even if China were to become a democracy
tomorrow, the United States would still have problems
with China, because the United States, in President
Obama’s words, does not accept second place (if
this sounds familiar, it is because Liu is talking like the
American “offensive realist” John Mearsheimer). 205
In recent decades, there have been unabated assertions
about the decline of U.S. power. Some also
believe that the decade-long war on terrorism has cost
the United States tremendously, and the recent financial
crisis has dealt the United States another heavy
blow. However, many hold that the United States
will be able to rebound and continue to maintain its
leading power for a long time to come. 206 By many
accounts, these optimistic views have it right. Most
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