The US Indo-Pacific Strategy and China's Response

The US-China relationship defines geopolitics in the 21st century. Despite a messy start, the Trump administration was able to provide a new national security strategy within the first year in office. The new US national security strategy clearly defines China as a strategic rival that "challenges American power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity." For the first time, the United States outlined an Indo-Pacific strategy to compete with and contain China's rising power and influence among those countries along the Indian and Pacific oceans. As part of an overall competitive strategy vis-à-vis China, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for "a new alliance of democracies" against China in the international community. The Chinese government has yet to officially respond to the US Indo-Pacific strategy as well as the "free and open Indo-Pacific" concept. Ten years ago, when the Obama administration rolled out the "pivot to Asia" strategy, Beijing's answer was a grand geoeconomic plan to expand Chinese economic power along the ancient Silk Roads on land and sea. Ten years later, how will Beijing respond to the new strategic challenge from Washington? In this article, the authors argue that Beijing has not taken tit-for-tat action to respond to the US Indo-Pacific Strategy. Instead, China has responded to the new American challenge in a more constructive, peaceful, and nonconfrontational manner. Beijing's objective is to mitigate possible national security risks while continuing to extend its international influence in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.