There is some hope when it comes to China adapting to international norms. Chinese President Xi Jinping has talked about the role China played in establishing the United Nations, although this role was established by Nationalist Chinese Leader Chiang Kai Check and not Communist China. Like most Communist states, the PRC under Mao was not champion of liberal internationalism, as it was an advocate of global Communist revolution.
Although still technically Communist, the new, post-Mao PRC has largely given up on exporting Communist revolution. So, the exporting of a way of life not wanted by many is not an issue. China's insistence that it's (or at least the current incarnation of the PRC) following the rules of post-war internationalism could instill a sense in the Chinese citizens that their country needs to play a bigger role on the world stage.
As far as favoring one type of government over the other, the PRC tends to favor totalitarian and authoritarian forms of government, as it sees itself as a country that grew wealthy with no democratic system and wishes to form bonds with other countries that feel the same way (without promoting a specific type of non-democratic government). To play the PRC in the correct manner, U.S. leaders should acknowledge the role China played in abolishing Fascism in World War II while continuing to oppose the PRC's totalitarian system, as suggested by writer Jessica Chen Weiss in her story "The Story China Tells: The New Historical Memory Reshaping Chinese Nationalism."
There are three sources of Chinese conduct: the will to become an economic power, the will to become a player on the world stage, and the will to confront American military and diplomatic power in Asia and around the world. Although anyone who values freedom and democracy should dislike the internal politics of the PRC, there's no denying the state's growing power.
Any Grotian, or an advocate of a world defined by law, would try to direct Chinese power to positive ends. Our two countries should start a dialog on issues that concern both the U.S. and the PRC - climate change, pandemics, and nuclear proliferation.
We should also work to rachet down tensions over Taiwan and the South China Sea. An agreement that will commit the PRC to downsize their footprint in those areas would be a start. The U.S. should draw down its military presence in Asia in return.
Both the U.S. and the PRC could promote their political visions in the non-military sphere. When diplomat George Keenan wrote "The Sources of Soviet Conduct" in 1947, he spoke of containing the Soviet Union at various pressure points until it imploded, severely mellowed out, or severely mellowed out and then imploded. The latter happened. Kennan's vision of containment involved containing the Soviet Union in the diplomatic and cultural realms, something that was forgotten in time, as he became a Vietnam war opponent in the late 1960's. The former diplomat thought his vision of cultural and diplomatic containment was being ignored for a more militarized version.
Projecting a positive vision of the democratic way of life would be a way to counter China's message in the world. Showing the world how a multi-racial democracy of many creeds and no creed can operate in a successful manner would be a wonderful way to promote our model. Efforts to reach the youth of China with American culture would be another strategy. The popularity of American culture helped promote the democratic way of life in the Cold War with Soviet Russia, although it's rarely remembered today.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
