Military: Expert notices Cold War attitudes

can abandon its Cold War mentality, and follow the big trend of the time,” Ren said.

“We urge the US military to view China’s defense and military construction rationally and objectively, fulfill the important consensus reached by the top leaders from both countries, and become a stable factor for Sino-US relations.”

The Chinese embassy in Washington also responded to the US report in a statement on Friday evening, saying people are destined to see confrontation if they view the world through a Cold War, zero-sum game mindset.

“We hope that the US can align itself with the trend of the world and the will of the people, and put the world and China-US relations into the perspective of cooperation,” the embassy said.

“The NDS appears to be a pastiche of slogans masquerading as a strategy,” said Douglas Paal, vice-president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

He said many in the Washington establishment will welcome its endorsement of alliances, after Trump’s earlier criticisms. “Beyond that, however, what I see is a wish list for ways to regain global dominance without a roadmap to get there,” Paal said.

For years, the Pentagon has used NDS to argue for a big defense budget from the US Congress. The US now spends more on its military than the spending of the next 10 countries combined.

Teng Jianqun, director of the Department of American Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said the new report represents a strategic shift by the US from tackling global issues such as terrorism and climate change to focusing on buttressing American interests and influence.

“Reports with similar Cold War rhetoric have emerged so many times since the Trump administration took office that it has become cliche,” he said. “Competitions between China and the US are inevitable, but what is more important is to look forward and find new grounds to build cooperation.”

Dov Zakheim, senior fellow at CNA Corporation and former undersecretary of defense from 2001 to 2004, said there is a nuanced difference between China and Russia when they are mentioned in the NDS.

“Russia is pretty much explicitly called an adversary. China, there is still a hedge to it. I think that there is a lot to do with the recognition that we are each other’s huge trading partners,” he said on Friday afternoon at a conference call organized by the Atlantic Council.

“We have a stake in each other’s economy. Therefore, if their economy goes down, that doesn’t help us. If our economy goes down, that doesn’t help them. So it’s a more nuanced relationship,” he said.

Zakheim said both China and the US are powerful countries and both want to avoid mistakes. “We need to be as modernized and as capable as possible, just like China feels it has to be,” he said.

He described the NDS language with Russia is tougher vis-à-vis China. “As long as China is willing to work with us, you are not going to see us being aggressive with China,”