A Study of East Asian Security in Sino-American Strategic Competition

Abstract

By using the comprehensive framework for security analysis of international system theory and intervening variables of policy-making in international relations, this article studies East Asian security in Sino-American strategic competition. After analyzing the discourses relevant with the US’s cognition of China in United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 from domestic, regional, inter-regional, and global levels, this article discovers that in the US’s eyes, China is a strong country and its approaching capability in the international system has already seriously impacted the existing international system and threatened its own hegemony, but China has its own problems domestically and its relations with its neighbors are very tense. Inferring from the US’s logic, it is discovered that the objective and subjective factors function positively and negatively to East Asian security, respectively. This article finally proposes five ways to reduce the risk of wars in East Asia.