One Belt, One Road Need Not Be on a Collision Course with the Indo-Pacific Strategy

  One Belt, One Road Need Not Be on a Collision Course with the Indo-Pacific Strategy

China Times Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

August 7, 2018

 Translation of an Excerpt

At a time when the China-US trade war is escalating rapidly, the ASEAN Plus 3 Foreign Ministers Conference and the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers Conference were held simultaneously in Singapore, and reached a draft negotiating text for the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea for final discussions, preparing to enter into the stage of negotiations on the articles. This COC was spearheaded by the Mainland, excluding US participation, apparently targeting the United States. However, US Secretary of State Pompeo still participated in this conference, and PRC Foreign Minister Wang Yi exchanged barbs with Pompeo at the conference.

In the South China Sea dispute, although the US expressed support for China and ASEAN countries to reach a COC having the effect of international law, in reality, the United States did not expect this COC agreement, which the US itself could not have a say, to have smooth sailing, because it will be difficult for the United States to gain guarantees for its interests in East Asia in this order; this is also one of the major obstacles for the COC negotiations. Although the ASEAN and China Foreign Ministers' Conference reached a single draft negotiating document for the COC, whether the future follow-up negotiations will be smooth, the US stance would still be most crucial.

Pompeo declared at the "Indo-Pacific Business Forum" that many Asian allies and partners of the United States hope to "shake off the empire demanding that we be subservient," hence they were "willing to fight for independence." Pompeo’s rhetoric echoes US Defense Secretary Matisse’s statement that “China attempts to restore the Ming Dynasty era with various states paying tribute to the Chinese Empire”. This means that the Trump administration believes that after its rise, China will pursue a return to the position as hegemon in East Asia, with concrete manifestations in the practice of “One Belt, One Road” and control over the South China Sea.

Beijing should use concrete actions to show that the "One Belt, One Road" is not a duplication of Western hegemony, but the reappearance of the Eastern way of righteousness, not exclusive exploitation but the implementation of a kind of "mutual benefit and co-prosperity." The rise of China does not constitute a threat to any country; in the future, the COC will be a public asset from China for order in the South China Sea, moving the disputes in the South China Sea toward regional security cooperation in East Asia, and not becoming a challenge to the existing international order.

In the globalized international community, One Belt, One Road would not lead China toward Western-style colonialism, but "Xi Jinping diplomacy" still must be "adept at playing second fiddle and never trying to get ahead," making cooperation, openness, and sharing become the diagnosis for South China Sea disputes; the South China Sea should be an experimental field that "benefits the four seas with favor and love beyond frontiers."

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