QI Huaigao, “China-U.S. Institutional Balancing in the Asia-Pacific and Its Implications to China’s Foreign Policy Choices,”Asian Journal of International Studies, Vol. 24-1 (June 2019), pp. 1-19.

pISSN 2671-7433; eISSN 2671-7441.

Abstract: In the context of China’s rapid rise and the U.S.’s hegemonic maintenance, one key challenge of China’sdiplomacy is how China deals with its bilateral relations with the U.S. and thus avoids the “Thucydides’sTrap”. Compared with power transition theory, balance of power theory, international institutions theoryand social constructivist theory, the China-U.S. institutional balancing theory can better explain theinstitutionalization of security and analyze the interactions between China and the U.S. in the Asia-Pacificafter the Cold War. The China-U.S. institutional balancing suggests that the deepening economicinterdependence creates a condition under which China or the U.S. is more likely to conduct a newrealist balancing strategy to counter each other and pursue security through international institutions.Under the background of the deepening economic interdependence and the polar distribution of powerbetween China and the U.S., both China and the U.S. conduct institutional balancing in the Asia-Pacific.In the crucial period of China’s peaceful rise, China must avoid repeating past mistakes of theAnglo-German antagonism (1860-1914) and the Soviet Union-U.S. antagonism (1945-1991), and mustbe cautious to avoid confrontation and conflict with the U.S. The implications of the China-U.S.institutional balancing are as follows: China should continue to carry out institutional balancing tothe U.S.; both China and the U.S. should encourage each other to participate in international institutionsin the Asia-Pacific region; both China and the U.S. should deepen mutual economic interdependence.

Full Text (PDF): China-U.S. Institutional Balancing in the Asia-Pacific and Its Implications to China's Foreign Policy Choices_QI Huaigao.pdf

Acknowledges: I’d like to thank Professor SHI Yuanhua, Professor Kai HE, Dr. CHEN Zheng, Mr. Austin Volz, Ms. JIN Ruifan and Ms. ZHUFU Xiaofei for their helpful comments.