Today the Los Angeles Times published a letter I wrote concerning the U.S. strategic role in Asia and relations with China.
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In "Who'll lead in Asia?" (Opinion, June 18), Kim Holmes and Walter Lohman convincingly argue that Asia demands greater strategic attention from Washington.
However, they overstate the inevitability of incompatible American and Chinese roles. U.S. policy needs to work with China to lift Asia up rather than work with Asia to hold China down.
There is no doubt that the United States and its partners in Asia should insist that China meet higher standards on military restraint, free trade and the environment.
But it is strategically imperative that the U.S. both help to change and accept China. To do so, Washington must lead as a rising moral power, not a declining superpower.
About Me
- Leif-Eric Easley
- Leif-Eric Easley is Assistant Professor in the Division of International Studies at Ewha University where he teaches international security and political economics. Professor Easley's research interests include contested national identities and changing levels of trust in the bilateral security relationships of Northeast Asia. He is involved in high-level U.S.-Asia exchanges (Track II diplomacy) with the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. Dr. Easley received his Ph.D. from Harvard University's Department of Government.