US looks for Opportunities for Cooperation with China amidst Rising Tensions
Suhas Nannapaneni
Last week, President Biden hosted Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan as the first foreign leader offered an invitation to the White House. Discussions undoubtedly centered around countering China’s hegemonic aspirations and included both leaders’ pledge to work jointly on the rapid development of 5G communications technologies to prevent China from dominating the global market.
The conversation also included a means for responding to China’s influence and aggressive actions in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. Recently, China has been using large fleets of supposedly civilian boats to press other countries’ vessels out of disputed waters. Chinese officials claimed that the dozens of fishing boats were seeking shelter from storms, but no storms had come. Instead, the reason seems to be China’s intention to assert claims in the South China Sea where it has been building and fortifying artificial islands in waters claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, and Malaysia. This incursion, similar to Russia’s decision to post thousands of troops along the Ukraine border, comes as China has growing confidence in testing the Biden administration.
Even more aggressively, China has flown nearly 30 warplanes over the Taiwan Strait in a show of force – another test for President Biden. The air detachment included sixteen fighter jets, eight bombers, and three anti-submarine aircraft. Taiwan’s military said that it sent radio warnings to the Chinese planes and put its defense missile systems on alert, but it is clear that Taiwan’s independence falls entirely on the shoulders of the United States’ military. On the same day, American aircraft carrier, the Theodore Roosevelt, entered the South China Sea in a “routine operation” to “ensure freedom of the seas”.
Prime Minister Suga clearly does not want to entangle Japan with the US’s commitment to Taiwan and has tried to cool down any sense of rivalry. This comes in the wake of Japan’s decision to not pass concurrent sanctions related to the genocide of Uyghur Muslims as China is one of Japan’s largest importers. This is despite the fact that Japan is part of the Quad Alliance, a group of countries often viewed as an anti-China coalition, and its own disputed over the Senkaku Islands.
So where can the United States find an opportunity to cooperate with China and tamper down the growing rivalry? Climate change seems to be the answer. President Biden’s climate envoy, John Kerry, was sent to Beijing for three days during which both countries made promises to prioritize addressing climate change. China’s leader, Xi Jinping, has stated that carbon emissions in China would peak before 2030 and that the nation would be carbon-neutral by 2060. Although many environmentalists praise his attention, there is a lack of specific details as to how it will be achieved.
Currently, China is the world’s worst emitter of carbon dioxide, accounting for 28% of the world’s total while the US is second at 15%. However, China’s new five-year economic plan, unveiled in March, offered no details for reaching Xi’s emission goals. In fact, China has approved new coal plants citing social stability and the development of domestic industry. “For a big country with 1.4 billion people, these goals are not easily delivered,” Le Yuchen, the vice minister of foreign affairs said. “Some countries are asking China to do more on climate. I’m afraid that is not very realistic.”
Although China is a far way off from making real progress on climate change, it does leave open a long-term opportunity for collaboration that could prove to help tamper rising geopolitical tensions elsewhere.