China versus the US: it is serious

In regard to fears that China will seek greater influence in Asia, Wang downplays such a possibility on the basis that many Asian nations will side with the US. Wang refers to the Singaporean scholar Simon Tay who states “no one in Asia wants to live in a Chinese-dominated world. There is no Chinese dream to which people aspire”.

With Wang suggesting that “China’s presence as a major economic power will be good for the world as well as for the US, because no one wants to live in an American-dominated world either”, it is crucial that the West upholds its leadership role in a fair way.

Given that freer trade remains a desirable concept to encourage peace and prosperity, critics of the recent US legislation should not despair. As they recognise, even if China is forced to let market forces decide the yuan’s value, other Asian economies will become attractive to manufacturing as they will still be cheaper than in the US.

As for China, if Western nations increase protection against that nation, this may force the Chinese government to spend more money at the domestic level to boost economic activity. As a 2010 China Daily article notes, the Chinese government has vowed to increase its spending on education to 4 per cent of GDP in 2012, up from 2 per cent in 2006: although the target was previously set long ago in 1993, it states that “education has been one of the issues receiving the most criticism from the public”.

Whether events unfold as I suggest, or the Western world continues on its way in line with recent policy trends, military spending may become more important as greater tension emerges. Given the US budgetary and debt problems, this may require allies to spend more. The Institute for Strategic Studies indicates that the US currently spends nearly 5 per cent of its GDP on defence, Australia 2.2 per cent, NATO (excluding the US) 1.7, Canada 1.3, and Japan 0.9 per cent respectively.

Already the Obama Administration has made moves to shore up its alliances in East Asia, including with traditional allies such as South Korea and Japan, as well as Malaysia and even Indonesia’s controversial special forces.

In the end, foreign policy is much more complex than any suggestion that Australia’s debate must overcome a belief that our security required the domination of the Western Pacific by an Anglo-Saxon maritime power.

After all, there are strong normative reasons why Australia will long support American leadership, despite forming regional alliances with Southeast Asian neighbours, and working with China as best as possible.

Sure, the task ahead for Western nations will be not be painless as some harsh policy reform may be needed, but a more aggressive approach to China's communist leadership is a trend likely to gain momentum in coming years. Anything less may prove to be a disaster for the world.