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The turning over of the calendar is a cause for hope and renewed commitment to achieving goals and the U.S. and Chinese governments are no different. Yet as 2015 drew to a close, many of the same problems continued to prove themselves obstacles to closer relations despite the potential for cooperation in other areas. Disagreement over the direction of the world economic order and the right of the international community to inject itself into domestic human rights issues drove the two major powers apart while potential cooperation on the conflicts in the Middle East provides hope that U.S.-China relations can be a force for peace in conflict riddled regions. Following is a summary of crucial subjects highlighted by the U.S. and China during December 2015.
Competition and Conflict on Economic Issues Continues
December has shown that the rhetoric battles over economic policy and institutions are sure to continue in 2016. President Barak Obama continued to lobby for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) by warning that a China based economic system would not be so friendly to workers and the environment, while China is trying to make the case that the reforms included in the TPP will not be so helpful to smaller nations like Vietnam. At the same time there was somewhat of a breakthrough with the WTO Information Technology Agreement that will lower trade barriers and promote cross border IT trade that both nations seem to be pleased with. Nonetheless, it is not all roses in the WTO with the U.S. bringing a dispute settlement over China’s VAT tax and China claiming that the U.S. is interfering with the EU’s potential decision to grant it market economy status. The real economy, however, is dealing with both China’s slowdown and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike.
ROK-Japan Comfort Women Agreement
An agreement between the ROK and Japan on the comfort women issue was concluded this month. The U.S. welcomed the agreement as the U.S. Department of State expressed hope that the agreement will promote healing and help improve relations between two American allies. Likewise, the U.S. did not change its stance on Japan’s apology to other countries’ comfort women including China insisting a similar attitude was needed with other countries. Furthermore, the U.S. and Japan have agreed in principle on a five-year package of host nation support for the U.S. forces in Japan valued at $1.6 billion dollars. This symbolizes the fact that the U.S. military presence in Japan is a key part of the U.S. rebalance to the Asia-Pacific. The Chinese side, however, persistently urged the Japanese side to deal with historical issues with a sense of responsibility. Chinese newspapers were doubtful that the ROK-Japan agreement would allow Japan to project an image of supporting women's rights on the world stage nor would it allow Tokyo to pursue its long-standing elusive dream of a permanent UN Security Council seat.
Middle East and Africa Continue to Draw Attention
The ongoing turmoil in the Middle East, particularly the Syrian conflict, saw an extensive mobilization by the international community to find a political resolution. The U.S. expressed its willingness, along with other members of the coalition, to accelerate and broaden the international campaign to put an end to ISIL. More attention was brought to oil smuggling and how it allows ISIL to generate revenue. Regarding the refugees resettlement, the U.S. said to be proud of being the largest donor, with $4.5 billion in humanitarian assistance since the start of the Syrian Civil war. Moreover, Obama announced a new deployment of special forces and a significant provision of equipment to opposition forces.
China’s reception of the Syrian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister garnered the world’s attention. Through this event, China made clear its position as a constructive mediator, to find a political solution to the Syrian issue. Additionally, this past month witnessed a growing Chinese focus on Africa which they consider to be a place of opportunity. Beijing is looking for an improvement in the Chinese-African relations by building on past achievements, opening up new horizons, deepening cooperation, and focusing on people’s livelihood. In this light, the 6th Forum on China-Africa cooperation (FOCAC) was held in Johannesburg on December 5th and included the adoption of a declaration and an action plan for 2016-2018.
Disagreements Over Human Rights in China and North Korea
As noted above, the U.S. has been contributing to humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees and also other UN humanitarian efforts, but the U.S. also continued urging Chinese authorities to vacate the conviction given to Mr. Pu Zhiqiang, a prominent Chinese defense lawyer and to uphold fundamental civil rights and fair trial guarantees. On the other hand, China continued denying foreign concerns regarding human rights issues and freedom of information and responded directly to comments made by the UN Committee Against Torture, the U.S. Ambassador, the German Embassy in China, the western media regarding the World Internet Conference, the French News Magazine L'Obs, and Miss World Canada Anastasia Lin. Moreover, China offered encouragement for the UN humanitarian system, and offered its support for OCHA and CERF.
However, disagreements over human rights issues are also a point of concern when it comes to North Korea. The UN Security Council is attempting to hold a council meeting on North Korea’s human rights violations, but China was against this move citing its belief that the Security Council should not inject itself into such issues. The U.S. holds the complete opposite position and stated, “the Council should continue to hear briefings about and engage in debates on the human rights situation in the DPRK.
Time Period: December 1 ~ December 31
1. U.S. – China Bilateral Relations: U.S. Welcomes China’s Rise; China Insists that It Will Not Disrupt International Order
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