【英文】兰德报告：中国对全球霸权的追求（253页）

U.S.-China relations have entered a new phase characterized by sharpening competition. As the gap in comprehensive national power has  narrowed, Beijing’s pursuit of national revitalization has coincided  with a deepening of tensions with the United States over long-standing  disputes regarding Taiwan, the South China Sea, and the U.S. military  presence in Asia. In addition, new points of contention, including China’s crackdown on Hong Kong and Xinjiang, and escalating feuds over  trade and technology have pushed bilateral ties to their worst condition  in decades.1 Even shared threats, such as the coronavirus disease 2019  (COVID-19) pandemic, have proved to be occasions for the two sides  to trade accusations and compete for influence.2 The unsettled relationship between the world’s two largest economies has unnerved the  international community.3 More ominously, observers anxiously warn  of the risk that the intensifying rivalry could follow a well-established  pattern of conflict between rising and status quo great powers.

Chinese authorities frankly acknowledge the inevitability of competition but reject the notion that conflict is inevitable.5 This perspective suggests that Beijing recognizes the importance of having a  balanced and nuanced competitive strategy that avoids disastrous  missteps. No official Chinese document that outlines a strategy for  managing competition with the United States is known to exist. If it  does exist, its contents have not been made available to the public, nor  should we expect Beijing to publish them, given the sensitivity of the  topic. Yet the questions that any such strategy might have addressed  remain imperative. How should we understand Beijing’s approach  to the competition with the United States? What might be Beijing’s  desired end state for the bilateral relationship? What does success in the  competition mean to China? What foreign policy and defense-related  objectives regarding the United States might China have? What might  Beijing view as vulnerabilities in its approach? This research aims to  shed light on such questions.