Treaty of Good Neighborly Friendship and Cooperation Between the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China: Implications for America's Policy Toward China.

摘要

On July 16, 2001, the presidents of China and Russia signed a treaty for good neighborliness, friendship, and cooperation. Many analysts heed the warning for the United States to closely monitor Sino-Russian synergy resulting from the friendship treaty. Considering that only a month earlier, China, along with Russia and four Central Asian states announced the creation of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the initial perception of many was that China was actively participating in, or perhaps leading, a regional effort to gang up on the United States. Sufficient analysis suggests that China's evolving strategy is to be a major player in defining the rules for the United States' participation in Asian affairs. The China-Russia strategic partnership and the July friendship treaty serve as one of China's primary means to assert itself against the United States. This study reviews and analyzes the treaty and addresses the economic, regional and military implications for United States policy toward China. The implications of this study suggest that China's own interests, not the interests of its strategic partnership with Russia, will ultimately drive China's relations with the United States. The United States should grasp recent improving relations with China and build a solid foundation for shaping current and future U.S.-China relations. The most effective strategy for the United States falls between containment and engagement. Finding effective ways to engage China, while containing its more aggressive tendencies, is at the core of defining U.S. policy toward China.