China's Communist Party has expressed concern at the country's neighbours, including India, being drawn into a United States-led “anti-China alliance,” suggesting a seven-step strategy, from using China's economic clout better to building new alliances to counter American influence in the region.
An article published in the latest issue of Qiushi (Seek Truth), party's official magazine and an influential journal that is circulated among its members, called for a review of China's foreign policy and for the country to come up with an adequate response to new challenges posed by the U.S.
Last year has been seen by many in China as a particularly testing period for its diplomacy, with rising tensions with many of its neighbours and concerns at the U.S.'s renewed engagement in the Asia-Pacific.
“The U.S. seems highly interested in forming a very strong anti-China alliance. It not only made a high-profile announcement of its return to East Asia but also claimed to lead in Asia,” said the article, whose author was named as Xu Yunhong.
“What is especially unbearable is how the U.S. blatantly encourages China's neighbouring countries to go against China,” it added.
“Countries like Japan, India, Vietnam, Australia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Korea are trying to join the anti-China group because they either had a war or another conflict of interest with China.”
The journal is perhaps China's most influential publication on policy issues, published by the Communist Party and often used to articulate policy positions in clearer terms than the diplomatic language used by government officials.
While it remains unclear whether the article reflected the government's views, many Chinese strategists in official think-tanks have increasingly voiced similar anxieties about the U.S. attempting to “contain” a rising China by courting its neighbours.
Many of China's neighbours, including Japan and even Vietnam, have recently sought closer military alliances with the U.S., blaming an increasingly assertive Chinese military for creating tensions. Last year saw territorial disputes between China and several of its neighbours resurface. China's relations with Japan deteriorated over disputes over islands in the East China Sea, while new Chinese claims over the entire South China Sea triggered concerns among its South-East Asian neighbours.
India, too, has been increasingly perceived by some strategists in China — particularly in military circles — as moving closer to the U.S. and as a key element in this supposed “containment” strategy.
The article said, “The probability for India to cooperate with China is also not great,” referring to the potential for the two countries to work together on economic issues to counter the U.S.
“India has stayed closely allied with the U.S. in recent years, and [U.S. President Barack] Obama promised to support India for a permanent membership in the UNSC [United Nations Security Council],” it said.
“India's purchasing power of foreign exchange reserves is very limited anyway, so it cannot influence the overall situation much,” it added, suggesting China needed to use its economic clout to challenge the dominance of the U.S. currency.
U.S. measures
The article, which was translated by the website Chinascope, identified six measures used by the U.S. to contain China: trade war, an exchange rate war, a public opinion war, military exercises, an anti-China campaign and developing alliances with neighbours.
It called for a seven-pronged response, from using China's rising economic influence and better-organised military exercises to building alliances with countries that were not close to the U.S., with a focus on Europe and South America. “What is the most powerful weapon China has today? It is our economic power, especially our foreign exchange reserves. The key is to use it well,” it suggested.
China needed “to send a clear signal to our neighbouring countries that we don't fear war, and we are prepared at any time to go to war to safeguard our national interests.”
China's neighbours, it added, needed “China's international trade more than China needs them.” China's economic strength was “the most effective means to avoid a war.”
