HEADLINE | ‘China wants to be the dominant power’
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A RENOWNED political and security expert believes China wants to be the dominant power in the region so it can “drive away” the United States from this part of the world.
Renato de Castro, a professor at the De La Salle University’s Department of International Studies, offered his take on China’s increasingly aggressive posture in the Indo-Pacific stage during an interview with Dante “Klink” Ang 2nd, The Manila Times chairman and chief executive officer, in the “Business and Politics” program of SMNI.
De Castro said the US became a superpower “in the western hemisphere by refusing to allow any external power” to challenge it.
“That is the same thing that China wants. China also wants to become a power here in the region,” he said.
By becoming the top dog in the region, it can prevent the United States Navy from “conducting its offshore strategic balancing to the region,” he said.
De Castro said China acknowledges that the US is the leading superpower in the western hemisphere. “China would also want to have that, you know, that status as the only dominant power in the region,” he said.
“And this is captured by the grand strategy of [Chinese President] Xi Jinping — the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, which basically means Asians should resolve their problems alone,” he said.
De Castro said Xi’s goals include impressing on the world “that we are a power to reckon with.”
Memento Maxima Digital MarketingChina, he said, takes pride in having the second biggest economy in the world and building a navy that is the largest in terms of quantity.
De Castro identified “concerns or anxieties attached to China’s rise” as a superpower. “Number one, China is a continental power. It is the largest country in the region. It has a history of being a ‘middle kingdom.’ Plus China is ruled by a communist party. It ensures that it will remain in power without any popular election.”
“Their promise now to the Chinese people is — China should be on the same level as the United States by 2049. And China to resolve all the standing issues — Tibet, Taiwan, South China Sea,” he said.
Beijing also wants to send a message to Japan that “I am the power to reckon with. Not that external power which is of course the United States,” de Castro said.
He also called on the Filipino people to support the foreign policy of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “Let’s give him that chance. We have to do our part,” he said.
