| Trade sanction is regarded as an important tool in the game of great powers,and it is also a double-edged sword,which hurts the opponents as well as itself.Since2018,the Trump administration of the United States has initiated trade conflicts with China,and the conflicts have been escalating into the areas of science and technology,finance,cultural exchanges and etc.Starting from the economic and trade field,the United States launched a comprehensive containment towards China.That is considered to be a reflection of the reality that the United States,as a leading country,has suppressed a rising country.Strategic anxiety of United States has been reflected when facing the rise and fall among major powers.The change of the balance of power makes the competition between China and the United States rapidly intensified.Under the background of the rise of China and the strategic contraction of the United States,China and the United States collide on a series of issues.The logic of power with special "genetic" features is the foundation of the US foreign economic strategy.On the one hand,the logic of power in the United States is changed by the changes of the international situation;on the other hand,it is closely related to the internal affairs of the United States.Diplomacy is the continuation of internal affairs.All the logic of American diplomatic behavior must have its internal logic roots,and the trade conflict it provokes is the outlet to solve domestic political problems.Regardless of the global level,bilateral relations,or the interests of China and the United States,the Trump administration's trade conflict with China has special significance.This article studies the power logic of American economic strategy,shows the evolution of its conflict with China,reveals the essential reasons for this trade conflict,and explores the concept of sustainable power development.Taking structural power and asymmetric interdependence as the theoretical basis,this thesis also incorporates realist theories such as hegemonic stability theory,containment theory,and preventive war into the theoretical framework.The thesis proposes that the logic that “a big power is bound to seek hegemony” is equally applicable in the economy.It's a law that all great powers not only want to seek military hegemony,but also want its political power to be projected to all aspects of economic power,including the establishment of international system and the shaping of trading partners to expand its own power.The logic of offensive realism has always dominated American foreign policy.The United States continues to expand its power,and uses this logic to its extremes.By reviewing the foreign economic strategies of the United States to the Soviet Union,Germany and Japan in different periods after World War II,this thesis analyzes the power logic behind the US's economic strategy to contain the rising powers.Historically,after the end of World War II,the leadership of the capitalist world eventually transferred to the United States.The Soviet Union became the only superpower to contain the United States,and consolidating hegemony became the national strategy and primary goal of the United States.The rapid rise of the Soviet Union means the transfer of power.The United States repeated its old tricks to completely suppress the Soviet Union by using the same way that it treated Germany during World War II.In the end,the United States contained the rise of the Soviet Union.Since the 1970 s,Japan's role in the world political arena has become more clearly visible and has turned into a major economic power and competed with the United States in trade and finance worldwide.Finally,the U.S.-Japan trade war broke out in an all-round way.At this time,the scale of Japan's economy began to reach about 60% of the US,and its growth momentum was very strong and had the tendency to rapidly surpass the US.Under the containment of the United States,Japan's trade exports began to decline,and its world market began to shrink.Based on the above-mentioned experience and lessons of competition among major powers in history-the mechanism of trade conflict launched by the United States and the means to contain the “second in the world” in history,this thesis further analyzes the United States' economic strategy against China.In the context of the rise of China and the global strategic withdraw of the US,China and the United States have collided on a series of issues.As the world's second and largest economy,the strategic competition between China and the United States in the areas of trade,technology,and security has far exceeded the scope of the two countries,increasing unpredictable risks to the establishment of a new international order.The essence of the transfer of power from the hegemonic US to the rising power of China is a readjustment of the global power structure and a fundamental change of the power system.In an anarchic international system,countries seek their own security by means of self-help.But different from other countries,in addition to security,the United States also seeks hegemony:security can only be achieved under the stable condition of “America first”.The Sino-US trade conflict is closely related to the transfer of power.The economic and trade relationship is regarded as the anchor of Sino-US relations,but the sound operation of the anchor mechanism has certain constraints.Successive presidents of the United States have upheld the tradition of American Exceptionalism and followed this kind of culture.The US trade war against China is inseparable from US domestic politics.The “American Exceptionalism” advocated by the United States has been transformed into a strong cognition of “American priority”,which is essentially a kind of solipsism and self-preservation.In the United States,more and more people begin to attribute the recession of the US economy to countries such as China,and believe that the recession of the United States and the development of countries like China are a zero-sum game.First,the perception of China has changed.The United States regards China as a “revisionist country” and a“competitor” of the United States.Second,the rise of populist forces in the United States.Third,there are unprecedented signs of division in American society.Political problems caused by the polarization between the rich and the poor have become increasingly prominent.The willingness and ability of the United States to support the process of global multilateral cooperation have declined.Based on the above-mentioned complexity of domestic politics,the United States needs to transfer its contradictions to the world system-how to maintain the hegemony of the United States.At that time,the rising China became the focus.Unlike the logic of offensive realism,where power competition is always a“zero-sum game”,China adheres to peaceful strategies,advocating cooperation and opening up in foreign relations,which is in line with the logic of power that “the transfer of power makes power stronger”,and this logic will become an important trend in international politics. |
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