In recent years, with the rise of China and the increase in military power, the United States has gradually realized that its military hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region cannot be maintained for a long time. In response to China's growing influence, Foreign Affairs proposed a new strategy, abandoning the pursuit of military hegemony and instead considering a balanced strategy.
First, the core idea of the balancing strategy is to find a more sustainable and less risky way to safeguard U.S. interests in the Asia-Pacific region. Rather than engage in full-scale military competition with China, focus on controlling key waterways, such as parts of the Strait of Malacca, the South China Sea and the East China Sea, and seek cooperation from countries such as India, Japan, the Philippines, and Singapore. Doing so will better achieve U.S. strategic objectives while reducing the potential risk of conflict.
Second, the balancing strategy emphasizes sharing the security burden by helping allies and partners strengthen their self-defense capabilities, and allows the U.S. military to play a supporting role. For example, relations with Vietnam were upgraded to a "comprehensive strategic partnership", and a new agreement on defense cooperation and joint production was signed with India. In addition, Washington can encourage allies and partner countries to purchase relatively cheap and mobile military equipment, such as unmanned ships, drones, mines, anti-ship missiles, and air defense systems. In this way, Washington is able to both reduce its economic burden and meet the defense needs of its allies and partners.
However, while the balancing strategy offers a viable solution, it still faces some challenges. First, the strategy requires a change in Washington's mindset and conventional thinking in the Asia-Pacific region, abandoning the idea of pursuing military dominance. This is a difficult task for the United States, which has long tried to maintain its military superiority in the region. Second, the success of the balancing strategy also depends on the active participation and support of allies and partners. However, due to the interests of some countries and their independent decision-making power, they may not fully obey the command of the United States, which poses a challenge to the implementation of the strategy.
In short, the balancing strategy proposed by the US Foreign Affairs is a strategy to deal with China's hegemony. It advocates abandoning the pursuit of military hegemony and instead seeking a balance in order to better safeguard US interests in the Asia-Pacific region. However, the strategy still faces some difficulties and challenges, including changing the mindset and gaining the support of allies and partners. However, in any case, with a balancing strategy, the United States still has hope of countering China's rise and protecting its position in the Asia-Pacific region.
The article describes the U.S. response strategy in the face of China's rise, that is, the balancing strategy. The core idea of the balancing strategy is to abandon the pursuit of military supremacy and instead consider controlling key waterways and sharing the security burden by helping allies and partners strengthen their self-defense capabilities. However, the balancing strategy also faces some challenges, such as changing the mindset and gaining the active participation of allies and partners. Still, the balancing act provides a viable option for protecting U.S. interests in the Asia-Pacific region. Personally, I believe that China's rise is an unstoppable trend, and China has never intended to pursue regional hegemony. Therefore, the United States should abandon the zero-sum mentality and work with China to build a stable and prosperous Asia-Pacific region. Only through equal and mutually beneficial cooperation can the goal of regional peace and prosperity be achieved.