Page 213 - Rassegna 2021-3

THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM IN THE ERA OF GREAT POWER COMPETITION

He came to the conclusion: “our policies - and those of other free nations
- resurrected China’s failing economy” .
(11)
The Trump administration concluded that the policy announced by the
Nixon administration failed, China has been strengthening and growing its
influence. One could lament whether this really is the whole truth, or China’s
rise has also been due to the country’s investment environment, for a long time
low labor costs, competitiveness, and later its huge internal market. Certainly,
its internal stability based on nationalistic mobilization and an authoritarian
system also played a role. In any case, the United States, understandably, do not
argue with those factors.
There is no doubt that the Trump administration has made a decisive turn
in this area in American politics, and also that it did so in a key area. It is so
important that there is no chance of a return to the situation, for the following
reasons:
1. It is in the vital interest of the United States to preserve its advantage
and delay when China is going to present a full-fledged alternative to
Washington.
2. The Biden administration also has an interest in finding areas where it
is not forced to break up with its predecessor’s policy and can maintain the
bipartisan consensus in Washington. The great power competition with China
(and Russia) is such. No significant change can be noticed in politics, and that
is not to be expected. Of course, policy continuity does not mean the invarian-
ce of the assets. Obviously, a more differentiated, ‘fine-tuned’ policy that relies
more heavily on diplomatic means and seeks international support with allies
and partners can be pursued even without a revision of the ultimate objective.
Both official documents and pronouncements of the Biden administration
have indicated that the determination is there to head in such a direction .
(12)
One may wonder why the United States want to see and show their rela-
tionship with China through security goggles? Or to put it differently, why do
the U.S. securitize this bilateral relationship? It is not disputed that there are
security implications of this relationship. However, it would be an exaggeration
to see it as a security rivalry.

(11) POMPEO, Michael R., Communist China and the Free World’s Future. Speech, Michael R. Pompeo,
Secretary of State. The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, Yorba Linda,
California, June 12, 2020, https://2017-2021.state.gov/communist-china-and-the-free-
worlds-future-2/index.html Accessed July 24, 2021
(12) See Interim National Security Strategy Guidance… and BLINKEN, Anthony J., A Foreign Policy
for the American People. March 3, 2021. https://www.state.gov/a-foreign-policy-for-the-ameri-
can-people/ Accessed August 29, 2021.

211