The balance of power in Asia-Pacific security: US-China policies on regional order

The article presents an analysis of the post-Cold War dynamics of power-balancing between the United States and China, and the role great powers and middle powers such as ASEAN Russia, South Korea, Japan and India play in this process. It makes a contribution to the ongoing debate on the U.S.-China relationship by showing how divergent U.S.-China policies in key areas such as anti-terror and anti-WMD initiatives, democracy and human rights, the U.S. alliance system and the UN system contribute to unstable patterns of power balancing in the Asia-Pacific. The article argues that the main flaws in Chinese policies on Asia-Pacific security come to the fore in Northeast Asia, which is a stronghold of the U.S. alliance system and China's near abroad, thus affecting China's influence on global security. If China cannot accommodate the region into its overall foreign policy strategy, its suggestions for a post-Cold War security order are likely to appear unconvincing to the international community. The article points out that the main flaws in U.S. policies on Asia-Pacific security come to the fore in Southeast, Central and South Asia, where Washington's concerns to preserve its pre-eminence prompts it to compromise on core foreign policy principles such as its anti-WMD measures and its policies on the political legitimacy of regimes. These flaws encourage the majority of regional states to extend partial support to the Chinese version of regional order without departing from the U.S. security umbrella. The article concludes that Sino-U.S. policies on the regional order result in patterns of power-balancing not underpinned by coexistence, an order that may be called "stable instability," because it is likely to remain in place as the regional order of the Asia-Pacific for the foreseeable future.