Statecraft repertoires of China and the U.S. before and during the conflict in Ukraine

Abstract

In pursuing strategic rivalry, the United States and China have used a wide array of instruments from their statecraft repertoire. Washington has worked on expanding alliances and strengthening bases in the Indo-Pacific, sanctioning Chinese economy and officials, as well as promoting a critical narrative on Beijing's rise. China has launched regional and global initiatives aimed at countering U.S. containment, promoting its economic interests and defending territorial integrity. Following Russia's military operation in Ukraine, the U.S. and China intensified their rivalry for influence in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. Washington considerably reinforced its Beijing-containment military, economic and political alliances in the Pacific, while promoting the narrative of China's "authoritarian threat." Beijing refined its statecraft repertoire by enhancing instruments in reaction to threats around Taiwan. In expansion of its "interest and strategic frontiers" throughout the Global South, thus boosting the narrative of the rise of multipolarity at the expense of U.S. liberal hegemonism.