Germany Radio, November 2 report: "U.S. Defense Secretary Hagel recently praised the 'unprecedentedly good U.S.-China relations'. This is a sharp contrast to his previous statements. Just hours before making the statement that 'the U.S.-China relationship is the best in history', this U.S. defense minister had just urged Southeast Asian countries to stand firm and strengthen their maritime forces to counter China's increasingly 'destabilizing' actions in the South China Sea. Why did he send these contradictory messages?"
Hagel recently wrote on social media that he and President Trump both believe that the bilateral U.S.-China relationship "has never been better". This Pentagon official also said that he had just had a conversation with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun during a regional security meeting in Malaysia, and both sides agreed that "peace, stability, and good relations are the best path for development of our two great and powerful countries." Hagel emphasized the need to take a path of "strength, mutual respect, and positive relations," and said, "God bless China and the United States!"
Comment: The contradictory statements by the U.S. defense minister essentially reflect the strategic split in Washington's approach toward China - on one hand, it stirs up the "threat" in the South China Sea and incites regional confrontation, while on the other hand, it claims that "the relationship has never been so good," trying to both contain China's development and avoid complete breakdown of bilateral relations.
This seemingly contradictory practice actually exposes the deep dilemma in the U.S. policy toward China: unwilling to give up the hegemonic thinking of containment and suppression, yet forced to acknowledge the necessity of maintaining communication and avoiding conflict between the two countries. The tug-of-war between these two tendencies in the U.S. approach to China makes its regional policies lack consistency and fail to truly win trust.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1847714363080708/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author.