American Political Polarization and Extremalization of Its China Policy

American political polarization and extremalization of its China policy are two major phenomena in American domestic politics and international politics respectively.Ever since Trump came into office,the Democrats have tried to deny the legitimacy of his election and administration by launching investigations into the“Russia Gate”as well as his alleged“tax evasion”and“sex scandal”with a porn star,while the two major parties have been caught in a bitter fight over the legacies of the Obama administration,the“Muslim ban”and the construction of a wall at the US-Mexico border.In addition,Trump’s alleged telephone conversation with Zelensky,president of Ukraine,has led to the House controlled by the Democrats impeaching him on two charges----“abusing power”and“obstructing a congressional investigation”,while the Senate controlled by the Republicans has found Trump not guilty.Timothy Heath,a research fellow from the RAND Corporation,wrote to point out,political polarization in the US“has entered the worst period since the end of the Civil War”.Stephen M.Walt,professor from the Kennedy School of Government,Harvard University,believed American politics has become“hyperpolarized”.Meanwhile,American policy toward China has gone to extremes,as seen in the deviation made by the Trump administration from the engagement policy toward China to pursue a policy of hostile competition and confrontation toward China instead.American political polarization and extremalization of its China policy have resonated with each other in a way never seen before,which is not a coincidence of time,but inevitably connected.

I.Political polarization has promoted the US to pursue a tough policy toward China

Extremalization of American policy toward China has primarily derived from American strategic anxiety wrought by the changes in the balance of power and international influence between the two countries,which has spurred a major change in its policy toward China.However,as domestic politics affects diplomacy,American political polarization has,to some extent,prompted the Trump administration to pursue a confrontational policy toward China.

First,faced with polarized domestic politics,the Trump administration attempts to establish its authority by being tough on China in order to advance his controversial policies at home.Since Trump took power,the Democrats have launched investigations of various kinds to challenge the legitimacy of Trump as the US president,in addition to their obstruction of his administration through legislative and judicial means.Political polarization in the US has made it impossible for the Trump administration to realize cross-party cooperation over domestic policies.As a result,China,deemed by the US as its primary rival,has become the external target that may be used to promote domestic policies.Bitter fights at home have made Trump assume so strong a sense of insecurity that he needs to incite nationalist sentiment against China to build up his domestic prestige,through which to face down political rivals at home and achieve the goals of his domestic policies.So to speak,in addressing domestic and foreign issues,Trump has to consolidate his authority by frequently playing up“national security”and“national emergencies”.Therefore,to achieve the goals of his domestic policies is Trump’s priority,while confronting against China serves this priority.

Second,some US former political VIPs and academic elites have wished to mitigate political polarization and stimulate a bipartisan consensus at home by confronting against China,in order to speed up the improvement of American competitiveness and better compete with China.More and more politicians from the two parties as well as social elites have felt bitter over political polarization and bitter fights at home,calling for reforms,but without any progress.Under such circumstances,some elites wished to transfer domestic contradictions overseas.Thus,waging a cold war against China has become their preference.Niall Ferguson,a British historian and professor from Harvard believed,a new external foe would help the US reduce domestic polarization,as a cold war had political benefits for the US.Although Newt Gingrich,former speaker of the House,used to fight the Democrats by fair means and foul in the 1990s,he is now calling his fellow Americans not to be so passionate about party fights and political identity,but join hands in confronting against China effectively.In fact,elites from both parties including Trump are still busy with internal strife,but they have reached a consensus on American policy toward China,and gone further on the road to promote confrontation against China.

II.Social polarization in the US has boosted extremalization of American policy toward China

Political polarization in the US is the reflection of its social polarization,while populism is the inevitable result of polarization of the rich and the poor.With the change of the US ethnic structure in population and“tribalization”of different groups of voters,the American elites have found it more and more urgent to set up a powerful external foe,while China has just made such an enemy.

First,although the right-wing and left-wing populists in the US are hard to reconcile with each other,they have all attempted to address the growing disparity between the rich and the poor as well as the shrinking of the middle class by pursuing a trade protectionist policy against China.After the financial crisis in 2008,populist forces began to rise.During the election in 2016,Trump became the standard-bearer of the right-wing populist forces,while the left-wing populist forces following Sanders were equally powerful.In the 2020 election,Trump is to keep his right-wing populist style,while the progressive forces in the Democratic Party represented by Sanders and Warren will continue their political mobilization of the leftwing populist forces.These two populist forces are competing with each other fiercely,but the root cause lies in the intensifying disparity between the rich and the poor as well as the shrinking of the middle class.Since it is difficult for them to reach a consensus over domestic reforms,globalization and China as a beneficiary of globalization have become the scapegoat for them to transfer domestic crises,as they have all attributed the slowing down of income growth of American workers and growing disparity between the rich and the poor to“unfair trade practices”by transnational corporations and China.To re-shape the US-China economic relations is a major approach shared by both right-wing and left-wing populist forces to address domestic issues,with the former already taking some relevant actions.

Second,the American elites wish to play up“China threat”to strengthen American national identity and consolidate domestic unity,while some extremists even attempt to provoke a clash of civilizations against China.The conservative elites in the US are deeply worried over the rising proportion of ethnic minorities to the general population and the development of pluralism,believing“America would not be America”in the long run.During the Cold War,the US ensured domestic cohesion and consolidated alliance against the Soviet Union by advocating liberal ideology.When the Cold War ended,Samuel P.Huntington among others lamented,without such an ideal enemy as the Soviet Union,the Americans might lose themselves.Therefore,the US needed a new enemy.Over the 30 years since the end of the Cold War,the conservatives in the US have taken to heart the danger of American social divide.The conservatives around Trump held that competition with China should be viewed and organized from the perspective of a clash of civilizations.Kiron Skinner,director of policy planning at the US State Department,depicted the US-China relationship precisely as“contest between two different civilizations and ideologies”,thus taking contest with China as America’s“first competition with non-Caucasians”.Nonetheless,as the new“civilization clash theory”is too extreme to win hearts and minds,the American elites have returned to the old path of advocating liberal ideology.

III.Confrontation against China would not solve the issue of political polarization in the US

As political polarization in the US has resulted from the longterm interaction of American market financialization,social divide and government failures,to address it will demand a process.More importantly,to resolve the problems needs to face them straight and remove the causes,while transferring contradictions overseas through confrontation against China or evading problems will be of no avail.

First,confrontation against China will not ease political polarization in the US.In essence,political polarization in the US is the result of party rivalry,distributive incentive system and demographic change,which has nothing to do with foreign policy.Taking China as a powerful external threat will not resolve the ways and means for American elites to seek domestic political power.The bitter fights between the Republicans and the Democrats over Trump’s alleged links with Russia and Ukraine,which have provided the ground for Trump’s impeachment,have nothing whatsoever to do with China.Moreover,the fundamental differences of American voters over such issues as taxation,health reform,immigration,gun control and abortion also have nothing to do with China.Although competition does exist between China and the US,China has no intention to contend with the US for hegemony,nor does China export ideology to the US,undermine America’s strategic core interests and pose any threat to American survival.Therefore,China does not pose the threat to the US as the“enemy at the door”and an“enemy that has to be faced by all Americans”.

Second,confrontation against China will not mitigate inequality in the US.As the mouthpieces of American populist forces either on the right or on the left see it,resolving the“unfair”trade relations between China and the US will make American middle class strong again.Nevertheless,system effects wrought by interaction between China and the US as well as the multi-player game in the international community have resulted in what the US does not want to see.The tariff measures taken by the US against China have undermined global industrial chain,thus resulting in losses on the part of both American companies and consumers,while China’s retaliatory tariffs have increased costs for both American enterprises and consumer,in addition to reducing economic efficiency.Although the two countries have concluded a phased economic and trade agreement,the damage has already done.In addition,the US has upgraded its control on high-tech exports to China,which has prompted China to decide on putting an end to its excessive dependence on American key technologies and accessories.In case the US holds onto its unreasonable position in economic and trade consultation with China,and fails to reach agreements with China on elimination of tariffs,relaxation of export controls and coordination of industrial policies,while other developed economies take the lead in signing mutually beneficial and win-win agreements with China,the benefits of American enterprises will be undermined,so will the interests of American workers.As a result,American endeavor to make its middle class strong again will fall through.

Last,confrontation against China will not strengthen American national identity.Since the financial crisis in 2008,although globalization has undergone twists and turns,the US and China as the biggest economies of the world are systematically important,whose relations are“too important to fall apart”.The Americans benefitting from the development of the USChina relations will not like to see conflicts or a“new cold war”breaking out between the US and China,nor will other countries of the world want to see conflicts between the US and China,as they are particularly reluctant to choose side between China and the US.Competition between the US and China is not a contention between two major powers for global hegemony,but a struggle in which the US tries maintain its hegemony,while China opposes America’s violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity,as well as its sabotage of China’s development interests.The US suppression on China is unjust,while China’s resistance against the US is just.The American right-wing populists have upgraded contradictions between China and the US to a clash of civilizations,which runs contrary to international justice and the trend of history.Such a theory of civilization clash has strong racist overtones,which will intensify contradictions between American whites and its ethnic minorities,hence complicating the environment for the US to strengthen its national identity.Moreover,the US endeavor to stigmatize China’s political system and ideology will not address the deepseated contradictions between liberalism and conservatism in the US.

(The author is Associate Research Professor at the Institute for American Studies,CICIR and Deputy Director at the Center for Taiwan Studies,CICIR.This article was received on Feb.26,2020.)