In the new millennium, rather than behaving as "strategic partner" to the US as claimed in the Bush Administration's post-9/11 rhetoric, China has continued to act in its own national interest---sometimes in direct opposition to US interests. Stronger-than-ever rival may be a more appropriate definition, as is evident in China's approaches to its own economic growth and pursuit of reliable energy resources, as well as in its policies toward security and its increasing use of diplomacy. China's concern for US interests and for warming Sino-US relations in general seems incidental since the foes (old and new) of the US are increasingly the friends of the People's Republic of China (PRC). If the US is indeed a hegemon in decline, China then, is watching. The economic boom in the Middle Kingdom has created benefits for both the US and China, yet has also begotten environmental devastation and macroeconomic concerns. The sustainability of this growth is vulnerable to a number of political and social factors. One of these factors includes reliable access to resources, as China has become second only to the US in energy consumption. The geostrategic nature of oil-rich regions intensifies competition for the much sought-after resource. Security is another realm of competition (manifested in US hedging practices against the growth of the PLA in Asia) though peppered with arenas of cooperation such as the denuclearization of the DPRK and---if only rhetorically---the War on Terror, jargon from which Beijing has adopted to legitimize its domestic campaigns against ethnic groups. China's use of diplomacy and soft power seems quasi-infinite and analysts warn the US to harness its own soft power. Insights from realism, liberalism, and constructivism can combine to predict that---assuming sustained Chinese development and declining US hegemony---in an era of increased competition, and through established international institutions, the two states will attempt to advance national interests borne from the perceptions of policy-making elites and changing national identities; all accomplished in an environment where increased competition does not necessarily beget conflict and more-and-more actors and their socially-constructed belief systems oscillate in---and vie for---importance.
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