The online article "Fallon hopes to boost defense ties with China" [Navytimes.com, July 7] was an interesting read. Many consider our relationship with China as the pivot point for all other National Security strategy issues for the next 25 to 50-years.
Those who hold this viewpoint seem to fall into three basic camps.
The first group believes we should build a close relationship with China. This premise is based on the idea that China will grow into a democracy over the next 25 years, and it behooves us to have a strong relationship with a country that likely will soon produce one-third of the world's economy.
The second group believes China is a dictatorship and must be contained at all costs. Their human rights record and disregard for international law indicate China must be contained, opposed and blocked at every turn, lest their influence reduce freedom and democracy worldwide.
One need look no further than modern-day Zimbabwe to see how such a model of Chinese involvement might play out.
The third group, mostly Korean and Japanese academics, believes inherent contradictions of the Chinese society--limited political freedom combined with stunning economic growth--will cause it to falter and eventually collapse. This would be something roughly along the lines of what actually happened in China from 1800 to 1945.
It seems after considering all three possibilities, we still desire to boost defense ties. One approach might be to implement a "21st-century Monroe Doctrine" with China: The original Monroe Doctrine was a negotiated agreement--between the United Kingdom and the United States. However, the United States, for political reasons, announced it unilaterally.
Likewise, if China and the United States could find a transnational issue, such as unrestricted free trade across the oceans for energy resources, that could be agreed upon and tied to a military function, such as defending access to energy resources against all adversaries. This could be the beginning of a rapprochement in the China-U.S. relationship.
One could argue that the negotiations of the Monroe Doctrine laid the groundwork for improved relations between the U.S. and the U.K. In that case, the effort was so successful that the U.K. is now considered our best ally.
Lieutenant Commander Chris Davis is a Navy fellow at AEI.
