American allies ‘needed for targeted decoupling from China’
- Former US envoy says the United States should uphold the liberal international order
The assessment by Ashley Tellis, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who specialises in international security, defence, and Asian strategic issues, is part of a book by the Seattle-based National Bureau of Asian Research called Strategic Asia 2020: US-China Competition for Global Influence to be released next month.
In one chapter, Tellis looks at the “return of strategic competition” between the two countries, saying the official trend in Washington was towards “the view that China is today and will be for the foreseeable future the principal challenger to US”.
“The US quest for a partnership with China was fated to fail once China’s growth in economic capabilities was gradually matched by its rising military power,” he said.
Tellis said the US must renew its commitment to uphold the liberal international order built by US power, “provide the global public goods that bestow legitimacy upon its primacy, and strengthen its power-projection capabilities to protect its allies and friends”.
This approach required more input from allies such as Japan, he said.
“The US should use coordinated action with allies to confront China’s trade malpractices … should pursue targeted decoupling of the US and Chinese economies, mainly in order to protect its defence capabilities rather than seeking a comprehensive rupture.”