This testimony assesses features of China’s rise and interaction with Asia in the post cold war period

1Robert Sutter Visiting Professor of Asian Studies, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University Testimony before the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission Title of Hearing: “China’s Views of Sovereignty and Methods of Access Control.” February 27, 2008 Opening Statement/Oral Presentation Thank you for the opportunity to testify before the Commission. My prepared written statement (below) focuses on why China’s administration sees the United States as the main danger to its sovereign space and what non-military methods China uses to protect and advance its sovereign space. China has a long history as an aggrieved power—a country whose sovereignty has been violated by other powers. This sense of victimization remains strong today, with Taiwan, protected by the United States, heading the list of gross violations of Chinese sovereignty. China also has a consistent tendency to see larger powers along its periphery as real or potential threats to China’s sovereignty. The record of the People Republic of China in both the revolutionary Maoist period and the reform period since Mao’s death in 1976 shows Chinese leaders giving top priority in foreign affairs to dealing with real or potential dangers and pressures posed by the United States or the Soviet Union, and their allies and associates in Asia. In dealing with foreign pressure and for other reasons, China’s leaders have long given priority to developing China’s ...