By Su Hao
In recent times, the US has adopted a new approach in its "Comprehensive Competition Strategy" against China, namely, the promotion of what it calls "Competitive Regionalism". Under this banner, the US is strengthening its ties with various multilateral mechanisms, aiming to counteract China's efforts in promoting regional and cross-regional institutionalized cooperation. The goal is to disrupt the collaborative processes in these regions, especially those in proximity to China. The US has been making high-profile interventions, directly labeling China as a threat, to undermine the established and rapidly evolving regional integration and cross-regional cooperative relationships between these regions and China. This strategy aims to reshape the US' dominant hegemonic position in these regions.
With its military power spanning the Pacific, along with formidable economic and technological capabilities, the US not only considers the Pacific as its "inland lake" but regards the economies of East Asia as sources of cheap products and a wellspring for financial capital. The East Asian region has become a testing ground for American "New Regionalism" and an extension of its hegemonic dominance. The essence of this "New Regionalism" lies in the US' involvement and interference in the affairs of other regions through cross-regional connections, compelling countries within these regions to serve and comply with American strategic interests.
Under the shadow of its "New Regionalism" and its cross-regional dominance, Southeast Asian nations have grown wary. The the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has initiated the ASEAN plus China, Japan, and the ROK(10+3) cooperation mechanism, comprising geographically proximate nations, actively promoting the process of regional cooperation and integration in East Asia. To date, the progress of the "10+3" framework has been rapid and fruitful. ASEAN countries and China have become each other's largest trading partners, while economic cooperation among China, Japan, and the ROK has fostered deep interdependence.
As one of the key geopolitical countries in Asia, China actively promotes deep socioeconomic coordination and cooperation with other regions in Asia under the Belt and Road Initiative. It's worth emphasizing that China, along with geographically neighboring regions in Asia and the Pacific, has jointly propelled the process of institutionalized cooperation. In October 2021, China established a ministerial-level dialogue mechanism with South Pacific countries, held the inaugural China-Arab (Gulf) States Summit in December 2022, and hosted the first China-Central Asia Leaders' Summit in Xi'an in May 2023.
In fact, countries across different regions in Asia and the Pacific have proposed various initiatives and concepts to promote regional cooperation, each from their own perspectives and interests. These seemingly competing "regionalisms" share a commonality: the aim is to achieve integration in the East Asian, Asian, and even Asia-Pacific regions through mutual compatibility and coordination among nations. This has led to the establishment of goals such as the "East Asian Community", the vision of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) and the pursuit of an "Asian Century" order.
However, the US, driven by its pursuit of hegemonic ideology and its aspiration to be the global leader, is concerned that regional integration in Asia and the Pacific could weaken its own strategic position. It is unwilling to tolerate the establishment of orders in these regions where the US cannot exert dominant influence. In recent years, the US has directly intervened in various Asian and Pacific regions with a posture of "competitive regionalism". For instance, it has held leadership summits with the ASEAN countries, organized policy dialogues with countries in the Lower Mekong region under the banner of "Friends of the Mekong", and incessantly propagated the "China threat theory". It attempts to use issues like the South China Sea and Mekong River development as leverage to pressure ASEAN countries into taking sides and disrupt the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and ASEAN.
The US approach of "Competitive Regionalism" completely disregards the natural connections between countries in the region. It disrupts the inherent geopolitical logic, severs the naturally friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation relationships among these countries, undermines their strategic autonomy, harms their fundamental interests, and obstructs the smoothly progressing regional cooperation and integration processes. We do not oppose the US' constructive and positive participation in regional cooperation across the Asia-Pacific. However, we strongly oppose the US' disruptive involvement in regional affairs and distortion of the normal friendly cooperation relationships among regional countries. We cannot stand idly by while the entire Asia-Pacific region descends into chaos.
(The author is a professor in the Department of Diplomacy, China Foreign Affairs University, and a senior researcher at the School of Global Governance and Development, Renmin University of China.)
Editor's note: Originally published on huanqiu.com, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
