China and the United States: Rivals and Partners in the Pacific Rim Economic Affairs
“China and the United States are both rivals and partners in the Pacific rim economic affairs.” Discuss.
For many years in the Pacific rim scenario the American leadership has always played a key role in political, economic, military and diplomatic affairs with all the countries in the region. Given the increasing economic interdependence among these states (especially due to the Southeast Asian states ' economic growth) a desire for integration has risen. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was established in 1989 to achieve this objective. In recent years, another player made its appearance on the scene: China. Considering its booming economy and the prominent influence gained globally, the PRC could be viewed either as a ferocious rival threatening the US economic interests in the Pacific rim region, or as a precious partner to cooperate with in order to achieve common benefits. In fact, after the Asian financial crisis in 1997, China has replaced Japan as the leading economic country amongst the East Asian states. In order to make the following discussion clearer, it is advisable to consider the recent relationships that exist between China and US. During the '90s the western hegemonic states used to criticise the economic developmental system of China. In fact, according to the Americans, the Chinese economy was supposed to collapse by 2004. The Anglo-Saxon “market liberal” capitalistic model has been for many years the archetype for western states ' development. For this reason it was believed that the fast growth of the Chinese economy did not even follow the “developmental” capitalism, which is characteristic of the East Asian countries, was meant to fail in the long-term, (Arrighi, 2007). Unexpectedly, in the past two decades China has been the only economy that de facto continued to grow steadily. Since the early years when China opened its gates to the world economy, it began to be increasingly dependent on direct investments from abroad and
For many years in the Pacific rim scenario the American leadership has always played a key role in political, economic, military and diplomatic affairs with all the countries in the region. Given the increasing economic interdependence among these states (especially due to the Southeast Asian states ' economic growth) a desire for integration has risen. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was established in 1989 to achieve this objective. In recent years, another player made its appearance on the scene: China. Considering its booming economy and the prominent influence gained globally, the PRC could be viewed either as a ferocious rival threatening the US economic interests in the Pacific rim region, or as a precious partner to cooperate with in order to achieve common benefits. In fact, after the Asian financial crisis in 1997, China has replaced Japan as the leading economic country amongst the East Asian states. In order to make the following discussion clearer, it is advisable to consider the recent relationships that exist between China and US. During the '90s the western hegemonic states used to criticise the economic developmental system of China. In fact, according to the Americans, the Chinese economy was supposed to collapse by 2004. The Anglo-Saxon “market liberal” capitalistic model has been for many years the archetype for western states ' development. For this reason it was believed that the fast growth of the Chinese economy did not even follow the “developmental” capitalism, which is characteristic of the East Asian countries, was meant to fail in the long-term, (Arrighi, 2007). Unexpectedly, in the past two decades China has been the only economy that de facto continued to grow steadily. Since the early years when China opened its gates to the world economy, it began to be increasingly dependent on direct investments from abroad and
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