New dimension of U.S. - China relations

Abstract

The article examines the general trend of U.S.-China relations drawing on the retrospective analysis of their dynamics. Misunderstanding over the terms of the Chinese "involvement" and "partnership" proposed by the American leaders since the 1990-s reached its climax with the failure of G2 initiative in 2009. This served as the meaningful background for bilateral rebukes. Conflicts concerning security in the South China Sea, the problem of human rights, accusations in violation of international trade rules created a solid basis for mutual antagonism. The author claims that this experience will only be exacerbated with Donald Trump's presidency and introduces a hypothesis that confrontation between the states, both pretending for comprehensive leadership internationally, may become outright when switching to a "new political space" - outer space. To prove this statement the author considers the military space assets possessed by both states as well as the strategic documents defining a range of space-connected threats and directions for further technological and tactical development. Comparisons between US and Chinese strategic goals reveal that both countries are striving for: a) integration of civil and military space systems able to undermine adversary's forces b) elaboration of hard-kill and soft-kill means of coercion to scale back the opponent's positions c) usage of outer space for the overall resolution of land-, sea-based and air tasks ("all-aspects unified"). The article also argues that America and China share the same fear regarding vulnerability of space systems amid successes of each other and concludes that this situation has potential for the escalation of security dilemma in the U.S.-China military space relationship.