The Pentagon announced this week that it is considering deploying military ships and planes to patrol territory near China’s newly built islands in the South China Sea. Such a plan, if approved by the White House, would open a new phase in the struggle to shape Asia’s balance of power.
U.S. policy makers and their Asian counterparts have long hoped that as China becomes more internationalized, it would gradually embrace political liberalization at home and act more cooperatively abroad.
But reshaping China’s international environment is a far more likely way to influence Beijing’s policy choices than is changing the nature of Chinese government or waiting for a democratic uprising in the country. Already opposition to China’s expansionary behavior has caused Beijing to alternate between assertive action and attempts to calm its neighbors’ suspicions. But the U.S., no less than China’s neighbors, has generally been too timid in responding to Beijing’s coercive behavior.
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