Studies On China’s Three-Level Role Conflicts In The Context Of East Asia Power Transition

With China’s continuous growth and ever expanding influence, the U.S’s role as a dominant power is faced with unprecedented challenge. East Asia starts to undergo power transition and structure change. In this context, China must take a brand new "big power" role according to its needs of development and the cooperative prescription of international society. China’s national role not only shows its orientation, but also displays China’s foreign policy principles and diplomatic strategy. According to my quantitative and qualitative analysis on 749 important speeches published on PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 2015, China’s national role conceptions focus on 6 areas:a partner who seeks cooperation, a donator to international economy, a contributor to world peace, a vindicator of current system, a constructor of security institutions and a defender of territorialsovereignty. The origins of these conceptions are Chinese traditional culture, comprehensive strength, ideology and the transition of system structure and needs.In the meantime, national role is also affected by alter’s role perceptions and prescriptions. As the dominator of East Asia system, the U.S.’ role perceptions and prescriptions toward China also influence Sino-U.S. relations and regional order. According to 261 American top leaders’ speeches on U.S. embassy websites during the same period,U.S.has affirmed China’s role performacne on many topics, e.g. peacekeeping, economy and trade, as well as cultural communication. However, it holds negativeviewpoints on China’s role performance on territorial sovereignty, Internet security and human rightsissues.These divengneces are rooted in political tradition, culture and value system, lack of understanding of Beijing’s decision-making processand the recognition of their ever-smallerstrengthgap betwen U.S. and China. Continuous conflicting perceptions may tighten U.S.’grand strategy to China and intensify Sino-U.S. contradictions.In contemporary U.S.-led East Asia system, China has 3-level role conflicts:internal role conception conflicts as ambiguous expression, and principal and subordinate roles confusion; conflicting role perceptions between U.S. and China on China’s role enactment on territorial sovereignty, Internet security, human rights and social issues; as well as China’s role conflicts with U.S.-led regional system, i.e., the leadership-grab between China and the U.S., and the China threat concern within middle and small countries in East Asia. Without effective role control, the Sino-U.S. competition in East Asia may be exacerbated, and the regional dualistic structure may be solidified, which leads to East Asian countries swing between the U.S and China, and does harm to harmony and ordered region system. In order to solve divergencesand control conflicts, China must at one hand adjust its national role conceptions as well as specify its orientations and expectations, and at another strengthen Strategic and Economic Dialogue with the U.S., and narrow differences little by little. Further speaking, the Belt and Road strategy and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank could gather East Asia together seeking shared interests. China encourages other countries to take free ride and enjoy its dividends in order to maintain prosperous and stable developing circumstance, thus, eliminating the negative effects of China Threat and sovereignty conflicts. All of the above are China’s creative contributions to optimizemodern East Asia regional order.