Speaking at the West County Democrats’ Meeting on March 13, 2017 was Dr. Brian Arendt of Lindenwood University. The subject of his talk was the State of Chinese-American Relations Today. 
Dr. Arendt gave an interesting discourse on the history of Sino-American relations since 18th century that put into perspective the nature of those relationships today. Both countries, he explained, have a very keen interest in fostering and maintaining good economic ties, style of government notwithstanding.
Over the centuries, the relationship has never been perfectly smooth. Today, that translates into robust and sometimes combustible interactions over such things as deficits, tariffs, monetary and currency policy and competition for resources, namely oil and natural gas of which China is a major importer. It has no developed resources of its own.
Currently, China seeks to have influence in the South China Sea region which concerns many of nations in that part of the world. The country has a naval presence there and, ostensibly, patrols the region to assure shipping lanes will stay open, an effort to protect its resource acquisition strategy. Dr. Arendt explained that China is not above “island building” to expand its claims and influence. That is, pouring concrete around rocky atolls to expand square footage, claiming the site as Chinese territory and then demanding a 200 nautical mile perimeter for “securing shipping safety.”
Dr. Arendt further explained that militarily, China is expanding but lags far behind the U. S. and the former Soviet Union in spending for defense, nuclear capability, or shear equipment capacity. It is engaged in infrastructure development in developing regions of the world like West Africa and Central Asia in order to expand its access to resources it needs.
Finally, Dr. Arendt summarized that it was in the interests China, the U.S. and Russia to continue to work for fair and equitable trading practices and that none would benefit from seriously disruptive antagonisms.
Submitted by Mark Kumming, WCD Member