The U.S. Approaches to Deter China

The Article focuses on the problem of countering China by the U.S. in geopolitical, economic, technological and military dimensions. The China's demands to play more of a global leadership role may be limited by weakening the drivers of China's growing power. The U.S.-China relations have quickly shifted from disengagement to the growing battle for global economic and technological dominance. The author tries to assess the possibility and results of China's isolation from the American and some world markets, as well as other countermeasures such as blocking the energy supplies, advanced technologies with significant military and commercial implications, military pressure by creating new alliances, helping China's competitors and assistance to the internal Chinese opposition. On the other hand, the effectiveness of US deterrence depends not only on the resilience of China's economy and the stability of the political system, but also on political goals. The pursuit of global governance is part of the program promises of the Communist Party leaders to achieve the «The two hundred years goal»" and «The dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation». These goals are not vital, but ideological. The main conclusions of the analysis are as follows. The U.S. can't weaken Chinese power seriously except driving to serious military conflict with Taiwan or India and imposing economic sanctions. Local clashes around the Spratly Islands will lead to a temporary success of the United States. China has the ability to mobilize more military resources on the coastal line of the South China Sea. Washington's effective strategy will be to overexert Beijing's forces in the conflict with its neighbors in the Indo-Pacific region and isolate Chinese economy from key trading partners. But the question arises about the cost of counteraction for Washington. There is no answer to the question of how far the United States is ready to go in the event of a large-scale battle.