Engaging the new China

　　By Carla A. Hills and Dennis C. Blair Published: April 26, 2007

　　The relationship between the United States and China will shape the future of the planet in the 21st century. In key areas - economic growth, regional security, counter-terrorism, nonproliferation, human rights, public health and the environment - a close, candid and cooperative relationship with China offers the United States a chance to make significant progress on its global agenda. Indeed, the core international public policy challenges confronting the United States can best be managed with China's constructive participation.

　　Yet at a time when U.S.-China relations offer great opportunity, the consensus behind 35 years of engagement with China is fraying. Moreover, the undeniable challenges posed by an ascendant China come at a time when the president and Congress are concentrating on a global campaign against terrorism and when the United States is carrying the burdens of major military and political commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

　　Sixteen months ago, we convened a task force under the auspices of the Council on Foreign Relations to consider the implications of China's rise. We have concluded that the United States needs to adopt a much broader and more focused strategy - integration - to maximize the areas of collaboration with China and minimize the likelihood of conflict.

　　Integration has three elements: deepening engagement with China, especially on security issues, rule of law and good governance; weaving China more thoroughly into the international community to better address issues like environmental protection, energy security and public health; and balancing China's growing power by strengthening American's global economic competitiveness, continuing U.S. force modernization and enhancing alliances and security partnerships.

　　These measures are not to contain China, but to account for the inevitable uncertainties associated with its growth.

　　The world has seldom smoothly managed the emergence of a great power, and China's rise will call for wise policies by the United States, other countries and China itself. The task force identified several sources of U.S. unease.

　　China's economic development and the accompanying massive U.S. trade deficit with China have become synonymous with the larger economic challenges of globalization.

　　China's human rights record remains poor, with progress on political liberty and religious freedom lagging far behind China's economic accomplishments.

　　China's expanding influence has led some to conclude that China is seeking to displace the United States from its global leadership role and rewrite the rules of the international institutions.

　　China's economic growth has provided Beijing the wherewithal to modernize its military and develop a robust space program, causing some to predict that China will soon emerge as a military peer of the United States.

　　The bottom line is that as China has grown more powerful and assertive in the international arena, those areas where China's interests and those of the United States diverge have been brought into sharper focus.

　　Yet these difficulties must not be allowed to obscure important truths.

　　Engagement with China has been an enormous success, bringing greater prosperity to both countries and contributing to peaceful development throughout East Asia. Through engagement, China's relationship with the United States has been transformed from one characterized by antagonism to one in which cooperation has become common. And for all of China's success, its leaders face immense difficulties - economic, environmental, demographic, and political. Consequently, Beijing requires and desires a peaceful and stable international environment - especially good relations with Washington.

　　These truths lead us to conclude that the best way for the United States to address its concerns about China is to approach the relationship with confidence, not trepidation, and an affirmative agenda, forging habits of cooperation and reducing lingering mutual suspicions. Washington also needs to get its own house in order by reining in deficit spending, promoting savings and investing heavily in education and technology to ensure future economic competitiveness.

　　The United States should not shy away from tough issues like human rights, but should lead by example and work to strengthen the institutions that will enable the Chinese people themselves to push for change.

　　While taking prudent measures to account for the uncertainty of China's future, the right American policy is to seek to integrate China even further into the global community. This positive approach, rather than attempting containment, is the best policy for America to influence China's interests and actions in accordance international norms.

　　Carla A. Hills is a former U.S. trade representative. Admiral Dennis C. Blair, retired, is a former commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Command.