Liquidating an "Empire": China's Strategy to Capitalise on US Hegemonic Strain | by Wu Xinbo

"Whilst avoiding systemic conflict with the US, how can we employ an effective and precise negotiating strategy to harvest the strategic resources that the US is selling for the smallest cost?"

Wu Xinbo (武心波)—not to be confused with the Fudan University professor and US specialist Wu Xinbo (吴心伯)—is an establishment scholar well-placed within the Shanghai policy ecosystem. He is deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Institute for International Strategic Studies (of which Yang Jiemian, brother of former foreign minister Yang Jiechi, was formerly chair) and executive editor of Shanghai International Studies University’s international relations journal, International Review.

This is what makes a recent article published on his WeChat blog, which outlines a strategy for China to “buy out” American “imperial assets”, so intriguing. Usually, establishment scholars bat away the question of what China wants in terms of global power through gnomic references to “strategic patience” or an emphasis on “multipolarity” and “fairness” in the international system. By contrast, Wu explicitly states that China’s core strategic dilemma is how to absorb US “imperial assets”—its financial clou…