The Eagle versus the Dragon
Ian Bremmer has rightly observed that the United States and China are growing dangerously
hostile towards one another. He posed the question whether this could be worse than the
Cold War (Bremmer 2010). The fact that the “list of irritants” in Sino-U.S. relations has grown
in recent years seems to validate Bremmer’s point. For example, back in 2010, burgeoning
bilateral tensions almost led to a trade and currency war. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy
Geithner claimed that China’s refusal to rapidly increase the value of its currency was hurting
America’s economic recovery. Rejecting the claim, Chinese leaders stressed that the
United States was wrong to blame China for its economic woes (Yong 2010). On top of this,
the United States accused China of failing to protect the intellectual property of foreign
companies. But economic issues were not the only flashpoints in Sino-U.S. relations. The
two countries disagreed over sanctions against Iran in regards to its nuclear program. The
United States kept a watchful eye on political developments in North Korea—a country
which has enjoyed a special relationship with China. Meanwhile, China criticized the United
States for interfering in the Sino-Japanese conflict concerning the dispute over the ownership
of the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands—the issue that stole the limelight during the 17th
ASEAN Summit in Hanoi in late October 2010. In the Southeast Asian context, the United