The Rise of China and Transformation of the US-China Relationship : Forging Partnership in the Age of Strategic Mistrust

The rise of China has transformed Sino-US relations in the 21st century. Although the United States remains atop the global power hierarchy, its relative leverage has become more restraint as China has steadily stepped up as a counterweight to US influence. The Sino-US relationship has, therefore, become increasingly strategic and complicated. In addition to the often sharp differences over many bilateral issues such as trade, human rights and Taiwan, a strategic distrust, i.e., suspicion of each other’s long-term intentions, has emerged to overshadow the relationship. While many Chinese are concerned that the US will try to keep China down, some Americans are anxious about the implications of China’s great power aspiration for US interests. How has China’s rise resulted in the strategic distrust? Can the US and China function in a world of relatively greater power equality and interdependence? Can they forge a partnership to expand cooperation in areas of common interests? Specifically, what is the US anxiety of the "China threat" and responses to the transformation of the US-China relationship in the 21st century? How do the Chinese perceive the new relationship with the US? What are the Chinese perspectives of opportunities and challenges working with the US in traditional and non-traditional security issue areas? Can China replace the US leadership in Asia? How has the shifting balance of power between the US and China led to new dynamics in their respective relations with Japan and Taiwan? These are the critically important questions that this book of contributions by leading scholars seeks to find answers. This book is based on a collection of papers from the Journal of Contemporary China.