The concept of “a new model of military relations” was first proposed by General Chen Bingde, PLA Chief of General Staff, when he visited the US in May 2011, but Americans didn’t buy it. After relentless effort from the Chinese, a consensus was reached. The June 2013 Sunnylands Summit set the tone for the construction of the new model of military relations. The PLA gradually specified the contents of and approach to building such relations, which were partly acknowledged by the US. During the 14th Defense Consultative Talk (DCT) in September 2013, US representatives officially accepted the idea. Eventually, a “commitment to the development of a new model of U.S.-China military-to-military relations” was listed in the Outcomes of the Strategic Track of the Sixth Round of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) in July 2014. It took more than two years for the US side to formally accept the concept, which shows there is diverging views on what the concept means.
For the objective of building a new model of military relations, China needs room for peaceful development, while the US wants to maintain the international order. On the one hand, China should have a bigger strategic footprint, more room for development, and more right of discourse on international issues. Accordingly, the PLA should participate more in regional and international security affairs, and play a bigger role in international political and security fields. On the other hand, the US is majorly concerned with maintaining a rule-based international system and unimpeded access to global commons such as the seas and oceans, cyber space, and outer space.
For the principle of building a new model of military relations, China emphasizes mutual respect, while the US stresses continuous dialogue. On one hand, the primary principle in China’s conception is to respect each other’s core interests and major concerns, not to impose one’s will on the other, nor to achieve one’s own interests at the expenses of others’. On the other hand, the US side has insisted on continuous dialogue. To their understanding, the significance of the new model of mil-mil relations is that it can break out of the “on-again, off-again” defense communication, and maintain sustained military contacts.
For the means of building a new model of military relations, China emphasizes equality and cooperation, while the US favors unilateral dominance. On one hand, China has always persisted in seeking common interest while reserving differences, and intended to expand common interests and cooperative areas to achieve win-win cooperation. On the other hand, the US tends to maintain unilateral dominance and effective deterrence by such means as power projection and military supremacy, to guard against threats and to control regional security regimes.
In order to build a new model of military relations, China emphasizes openness and inclusiveness, while the US loads the dice by using its alliances. On one hand, China wishes to maintain strategic and security stability with the US, and in the meantime join hands with other countries to keep the strategic balance of the world, especially the Asia-Pacific. On the other hand, the US will strengthen its alliances in the region, undermine China’s reunification efforts, complicate maritime issues, and augment the fever of nationalism.
Despite the above-mentioned differences, the US side accepted the initiative to build a new model of military relations, showing that similarities finally overwhelm differences.
First, the US self-perception of “being the world leader” and China’s traditional culture of “harboring goodwill to all its neighbors” makes the development of a new model of military relations a historic mission for both countries. Second, the political will and sense of responsibility of both leaders to break out the destiny of confrontation between a rising power and an established power push forward the development of a new model of military relations. Third, interwoven interests and increased risks of confrontation due to third-party factors make the development of a new model of military relations the only benign track for the two militaries. Fourth, common security threats such as terrorism, piracy, nuclear proliferation, transnational crimes, and natural disasters make the development of a new model of military relations a necessary path for the two militaries to build a healthy, stable and reliable relationship.
Since the June 2013 Sunnylands Summit, the China-US military relationship has featured the following four characteristics: frequent high-level exchanges, practical institutional dialogues, expanded joint training and exercises, and frank and relatively mature “cross swords” on diplomatic occasions. The smooth development of the new model of military relations will largely depend on a more solid agreement on the meaning of the concept and a more vigorous promotion by top leaders of the two countries, as well as the bargaining and compromises of the two militaries on strategic interests.
