China and the United States in the Asia-Pacific: Towards a New Model or New Normal of Major Power Relations?

The relationship between China and the United States is one between a rising power and an established power. Whether China is a revisionist power or a status quo power depends on how China and the United States get on with one another in the Asia-Pacific region. The US pivot to Asia and China’s rapid rise has created new dynamics for China–US relations in the region. A changing China–US relationship is also reshaping the strategic landscapes in the Asia-Pacific. US policy towards China has oscillated between containment and engagement since the end of the Cold War. In recent years, this policy has increasingly focused on the “engage but hedge” logic. The Obama administration’s pivot to Asia has rebalanced the focus of the “engage but hedge” policy and put more emphasis on political, economic and security competition with China in the Asia-Pacific region. Despite Xi Jinping’s proposal for a “new model of major power relations” between China and the United States, both countries are actually entering into a “new normal” type of power rivalry in the Asia-Pacific region.