'China Builds Bridges While US Builds Bases': How Washington and Beijing Approach Security in Asia

The sorry state of Sino-American relations today stems from the fact that the US does not regard the PRC as its peer, choosing instead to aim for dominance and trying to keep Beijing down, according to historian and China expert James Bradley.

The annual Shangri-La Dialogue kicked off in Singapore on June 2.

It is an event touted by its host, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, as "Asia's premier defense summit" where the region's "most pressing security challenges" are discussed by the attending government ministers.

The summit takes place amid the deteriorating security situation in the region. The United States has recently moved to ramp up its military presence by opening new military bases in the Philippines and Papua New Guinea after establishing an anti-Chinese regional military bloc, the AUKUS, as well as antagonize Beijing over Taiwan.

When asked about the recent US military initiatives in Asia, historian and China expert James Bradley told Sputnik that these moves are essentially the continuation of China's containment by the United States, which has been going on since 1945.

"These are aggressive moves when seen from Asia, they are unnecessary, the United States is trying to achieve increased military dominance in Asia because it is losing its economic power," Bradley remarked.

He pointed at a distinct difference between Washington’s and Beijing’s respective approaches to regional security in Asia, noting how “China is leading with peaceful economic means” whereas the United States "is weakening economically, and in the last days of empire is relying on its military strength."

"China is building bridges while America builds bases," Bradley stated.

The historian also postulated that, if the US were to treat Beijing as a peer, relations between the two countries could be normal. Alas, it seems that the United States’ goal is to dominate and to "keep China down," he added.

"The goal of the neocons running Washington is war. The business of China is business, and the business of America is war," Bradley elaborated.

Last month, US academic and philosopher Noam Chomsky suggested that China has already become a world leader, noting how Beijing’s recent economic gains in the Middle East point at the “erosion” of the system the United States has been running in that region for the past 80 years or so.