Sino-U.S. Rivalry in the Asia-Pacific: Declarations and Actual Policies

Abstract

The article examines the growing confrontation between China and the United States in the Asia-Pacific, primarily in countries neighboring China. Based on an analysis of the political documents, motives, and real policies of both countries, the paper concludes that this confrontation will escalate in the coming years. The U.S.’s position in this confrontation is determined by its general ideological approach to global development, according to which the very existence of a large and growing state pursuing an independent foreign policy is a threat to American security, since it undermines U.S. “leadership” that ensures normal and progressive development of the world. China’s strategy is to strengthen its international status and regain its legitimate leading position, which it lost as a result of the “century of humiliation” in the second half of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. In this situation, Russia needs to pursue a finely nuanced policy towards the regions involved in the U.S.-China confrontation, using a differentiated approach.