There have been a spat of stories detailing the growing power and assertiveness of China's navy and the natural question of whether this portends a kind of great power clash with the U.S. in the not-so-distant future.
Abe Denmark writes in Wired about the modernization and "aggression" of the Chinese navy in the South China Sea. At the Federation of American Scientists' blog, Hans M. Kristensen discovers a new Chinese naval demagnetization facility for its submarine fleet, proof of the country's growing capability. Meanwhile, Stephen Walt draws a comparison between China's increasing regional assertive and the Monroe Doctrine. As a growing China pursues the natural course for a budding great power in expanding its influence, Walt argues, security competition with the U.S. is inevitable.
I'd say that sounds right, but Hugh de Santis reminds us that China's neighborhood is far less accommodating to a great power rise than the Western Hemisphere was to the U.S.:
' Although Chinaâ??s neighbors have prospered from its economic rise, they are having second thoughts about its intentions. As Asian production networks become more integrated, members of ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) that warmed to the idea of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement when it was proposed in 2001 are beginning to worry that they will be reduced to economic appendages of Beijing.This is especially true of Thailand and Malaysia, whose exports must compete with similar and often cheaper goods from China. But even countries rich in commodities that China covets are voicing concerns, including those in mainland Southeast Asia. Chinese plans to mine bauxite in Vietnam have provoked considerable domestic criticism. Cambodia too is wary that Beijing will eventually acquire their land and water rights. Though it relies on China for money and arms, the military junta in Burma is also hedging its bets by increasing contacts with India and the United States. And Indonesia, a major beneficiary of Beijingâ??s ravenous demand for raw materials, has gone so far as to delay implementation of the FTA because it fears that it may put pay to its steel and textile industries.
More than its economic penetration of the region, it is Chinaâ??s growing self-confidence and muscle-flexing that has aroused fears in its neighbors that its ultimate objective may be hegemony rather than harmony.
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I ultimately think China's neighborhood will act as the best check on any "hegemonic" ambitions the country might harbor.
(AP Photo)