On the eve of the US presidential elections, Russian experts Pavel Zolotarev, Alexander Larin, Jacob Berger and Yang Mian deliberate what will be the dynamic of relations between the US and China after the elections in an interview with Sputnik Chinese.
The experts forecast that the US under the new administration will continue to deter China through military, political and economic means.
“The US will continue strategy of power projection for the military-political and economic containment of China,” deputy director of the Institute of US and Canada Pavel Zolotarev told Sputnik Chinese. “The US strategic line will not particularly change because during the change of presidents, as a rule, it does not change.
The main instrument of this power projection can be seen in their aircraft carrier strike groups,” the expert said. He further said that this would mean that the Americans will continue efforts to develop a missile defense system in the region and North Korea’s nuclear program, in this regard, is just there to help the US. “It provides the basis for deployment of missile defense systems on the territory of South Korea, thereby providing radar surveillance of highly sensitive areas in China,” Zolotarev said.
Another expert from the Institute of Far Eastern Studies, Alexander Larin, said that there is a battle going on between China and the US for influence and control of Southeast Asia.
Talking about countries in the region like Malaysia and the Philippines the expert said, “Of course, these countries will continue to maneuver between China and the US, but in general, it is clear that they are inclined towards China. This means that sooner or later, China will establish full control over the South China Sea,” Larin said.
Meanwhile, those tendencies that are inherent in the current administration — the creation of anti-Chinese economic unions, all of that will continue, whether it is Clinton or Trump in power. That is unavoidable, the expert said. “China, for its part, will seek to weaken US unions. Of course, the United States will react to it using tough measures. However, the US capacity is generally limited so it won’t be able to do much against China,” Berger said.
International relations expert from China’s University of Mass Communication, Yang Mian, shared similar opinion regarding the Sino-US relations as the Russian experts.
He said that in general, the main characteristics of the anti-China policy of the candidate who wins, regardless of party affiliation, will not have a strong difference from his/her opponent. Talking about the two US presidential candidates, the expert said that their difference in method is that Trump believes in isolationism, whereas, Clinton relies on interventionism.
“Nonetheless, they are almost unanimous in hardness of their position on their anti-China policy. Trump on economic issues is very harsh in relation to China, Clinton on policy balance in the Asia-Pacific region and national security policy also advocates a tough line against China.” “In addition, Clinton was one of the authors of the anti-China policy of the government of Barack Obama,” Mian said. The US presidential election will take place on Tuesday, November 8.
Read more: https://sputniknews.com/politics/201611071047160751-china-us-relations-elections/