Opinion | Will the US realise the folly of its China containment policy before it’s too late?

A world in chaos as a result of Ukraine war and the pandemic does not need another crisis, which the US threatens to create by pushing its China agenda in Asia

Officials in Washington need to shake off their outmoded Cold War mindset in which China is seen as a ‘systemic rival’ – or risk a global catastrophe

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US President Joe Biden speaks to the press at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday before departing for New Mexico. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:30am, 16 Jun 2022Updated: 4:24am, 16 Jun 2022

Amid the catastrophic fallout from the war in Ukraine and a global food and energy supply crunch, the result of both pandemic and war, another large-scale crisis appears to be unfolding – in Asia, driven by the US. With its focus on containing China, Washington has been pushing its regional policies hard recently as part of its grand Indo-Pacific strategy.

From the Asean-US special summit in Washington last month and President Joe Biden’s provocative statements regarding US policy on Taiwan, to the formation of a fundamentally flawed Indo-Pacific economic alliance, the United States appears to be strengthening its long-standing geostrategic endeavours against China. This risks turning a crisis into another major conflagration.

While other nations are seeking a peaceful settlement to the Ukraine war, why is the US seemingly bent on fanning the flames of another conflict? Analysts have observed that Biden’s recent moves may be a result of his new-found confidence following the unprecedented Western response to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. And it seems Biden has been tempted to exploit that confidence against China and seek to push home the advantage.

But with such a containment policy, devoid of any effort to engage Beijing, the risk is that a US-China strategic crisis could move beyond what are acceptable and controllable limits, with immeasurable costs for both parties, and the world as a whole.

The Biden administration has to remember that China is not Russia. And, given the sheer size of China’s economy, population and wholesale integration into the global economic system, any conflict that even came close to level of the Russia-Ukraine war could lead to a global catastrophe.

Sino-US strategic tensions have been growing for years. Today, there are two paths available to Beijing and Washington.

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