A Study Of Sino-U.S.Security Relations Under The Administration Of Barack Obama

Security is an eternal theme of international relations.Sino-US security relations are the primary factor in the international security situation.For the Sino-US relations,significant changes has taken place in the strength of China and the United States,as well as in the national security strategy of the two countries during the Obama administration.From the development process,the development of Sino-US security relations in this stage has gone through four periods: the Friendly Period,the Friction and Confirmation Period of the Security Interests,the Intense Conflict Period and the Mature Game Period.Game is the key word of Sino-US security relationship during this stage.Although within the same world system,the national conditions of the two countries are different and highly dependent,the characteristics of which determine that the fundamental purpose of them is not to destroy each other,but the relationship level is also limited.It is difficult to obtain a high degree of mutual trust.This is the operating logic of the security relations of the two countries.The Sino-US security relations are affected by many complicated factors during this stage.According to the basic paradigm of international relations theory,it can be attributed to three aspects:security dilemma caused by power transfer,the incompatibility of the pratice of different international system,the safety culture differences and lack of mutual recognition.Although the two countries have engaged in fierce geographical competition because of the lack of strategic mutual trust,which significantly limited the level of overall security relations,they have still cooperated effectively on emerging issues related to common security,broadening the space for future developement of security relations.From the bilateral level,conflicts and cooperations concerned security interests of the two countries have both risen,with blurring identity of safety awareness and occasional mistaken perception.They have performed distinctively different in the security interactions in the traditional and non-traditional security field;From the regional level,geopolitical clashes between the two countries have intensified in the Asia-Pacific region,and the competition in the sea power has been highlighted:North Korea issue continues to be under high-pressure,threatening the security of Northeast Asia.Diaoyu Islands issue is used by the United States as a fulcrum to clamp China with joint allies,meanwhile providing China with a basis for improving the defense posture.The Taiwan issue is a“pain point” in the Sino-US security relations due to the high level of arms sales to Taiwan in the stage,which has damaged the strategic mutual trust between the two countries.The South China Sea issue is facing international and multilateral challenges,highlighting the Sino-US competition in the Asia-Pacific sea power competition;From the global level,emerging common security concerns have become a breakthrough in Sino-US security relations: Sino-US consultations and consensus in the field of climate security have become a new model to lead global security cooperation;China and the United States are actively exploring new coexistence models on cybersecurity issues;Under the guidance of a “nuclear-free world” target,nuclear security has gradually become a new growth point of Sino-US security relations.Looking forward to the future Sino-US security relations,there are two noteworthy shaping factors:Trump administration has came into power,and China's “One Belt One Road” initiative has been deepened.China may benefit from global strategic contraction due to the conservative tendencies of security strategy in Trump administration.But the tendency of military expansion and concerns for the Asia-Pacific region requires China to stay vigilant;“One Belt One Road” initiative contains shared connotation and a number of supporting innovation systems making “co-evolution” of Sino-US security cooperation possible.Its security spillover effect can promote the establishment of a new cross-Pacific structure,thus deepening Sino-US Asia-Pacific security cooperation and opening up new growth points for the security relations between the two countries.Overall,Sino-US security competition has intensified during Obama administration.But the two countries have ensured the baseline of strategic mutual trust and the guidance of highest consensus.The overall security relationship is under control.With the deepening of shared security thinking in many countries,and the extension of interests in emerging security issues,there is possibility to jump out of the strategic dilemma of mutual trust and to win a new round of development opportunities.