China-US Relations: Evolving Scenarios In The Indo-Pacific Regions – OpEd |
America’s interest in the field of trade and investment with its partners in the Indo-Pacific region would be impacted in terms of security, as a high percentage of trade takes place by sea. Not securing the sea lanes of communication and thereby undermining or overlooking maritime security issues could be problematic for the US. This could adversely impact the US economic interests.
President Donald Trump’s exclusivist policy choices, by imposing high tariffs on most of its trading partners, will hurt the US more than the partners affected by US tariffs. Regarding its relations with China, China is already an economic giant; it has created a dependence on China among other countries that exceeds China’s own interest in its smaller trading importance. This can be inferred from the trade composition, both in terms of exports and imports, in which either country is at stake. China has reached a trade surplus by surpassing last year’s record, hitting US$1.076 trillion in the last 11 months amid President Trump’s tariff war (Li 2025).
Trump’s policy is seen as a retreat; China’s global foothold is commensurately strengthened. No matter how small an Asian country in the region may be, it has a perception of China’s domination. Thus, the larger question and policy choices confronted by smaller countries are whether to confront China or manage it. None of the Asian countries has the capacity in terms of military capability or economic power to confront China. Therefore, managing China is the better alternative so that peace and stability are not dramatically altered. It is always better to engage with China bilaterally and at regional forums, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the East Asian Summit, among others, to convince China to respect the prevailing global rules-based order, by which every country’s economic interests, including maritime security, are duly protected.
Regarding Taiwan’s issues, ever since the US established diplomatic relations with China on January 1, 1979 (Zhang........