Brent Scowcroft Center Resident Senior Fellow Robert Manning writes for the National Interest on how the shifting dynamics in the Asia-Pacific affect the US-China relationship:
A little bit of honesty in U.S. policy toward Asia could go a long way in piercing the Chinese “victim narrative”, which entails China’s view that everything it dislikes in Asia is an outgrowth of a U.S. “containment” strategy.” Yet loopy as the Chinese narrative is, U.S. public diplomacy inadvertently reinforces it.
How many times have we heard the mantra, “Our goal is not to counter China. Our goal is not to contain China,” stated by President Obama during his April Asia trip, repeated and reiterated by various U.S. officials? Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel summed it up succinctly at the Shangri-la dialogue: “The rebalance to Asia-Pacific was not to contain China. President Obama has made that point very clear. Secretary Kerry has. I have.”