The “rebalancing” of US attention, activities and forces toward the Pacific as it has been officially announced and pursued by the White House, US foreign policy and the Pentagon since the beginning of 2012 has aroused concerns in Beijing with regard to the actual intentions behind this change in strategy.

An important aspect of Chinese military thinking can be illustrated by the teaching of Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu in the Spring and Autumn Period (770 – 476 BC). His teachings state that the supreme art of war is to subdue the opponent without fighting. This speaks volumes for the core value of the Chinese culture represented by the character “he”, referring to peace, reconciliation and harmony, which continues to retain significance for today’s world.