Return of the Dragon

A rising China immediately raises two pressing questions. First, the phenomenal growth of Chinese power occurred at the same time as the equally eye-catching display of hostile confrontations and conflicts between China and the United States from the mid-1990s into the early 2000s. How the lone super power of the post-Cold War world and the former Celestial Emperor of Asia that is again on the rise will accommodate each other and the impact that this may have are issues of grave concern to scholars. Second, the world of the twenty-first century has changed significantly, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. How the players in the region – who themselves have undergone many changes – perceive and respond to the interaction between the two titans are important questions for scholars of Sino-US relations. It is precisely these questions that this volume seeks to shed light on. It explores selected themes in Sino-US relations in the new century and examines how players in the region, as individuals or as blocs, act upon or react to the interaction between the two giants.