impedes many of the PRC's goals. The PRC's leaders have eagerly embraced narratives of the West's relative decline and the inevitability of China's rise as largely consistent with their strategy and evidence of China's progress.
The Party views core aspects of the current international system as incompatible with its vision for a revised order premised on its "community of common destiny." The PRC's leaders view U.S. security alliances and partnerships, especially those in the Indo-Pacific, as destabilizing and irreconcilable with the PRC's sovereignty, security, and development interests. Regionally, the PRC's 2019 defense white paper claims that "Asia-Pacific" countries are "increasingly aware that they are members" of the PRC's "community with a shared future for mankind" and that managing disputes through dialogue is its "preferred policy option."
Beijing has also expressed concerns over growing global instability and a mounting sense of insecurity that it views as instigated by the United States. The PRC's 2019 defense white paper criticized the United States as the "principal instigator" of global instability and driver of "international strategic competition." China's leadership views U.S. policy toward the PRC as a critical factor affecting the PRC's national objectives and increasingly views the United States as more willing to confront Beijing where U.S. and PRC interests are inimical.
Given the enduring suspicion among some in Beijing that the United States seeks to contain China, CCP leaders hold that the accrual of the PRC's comprehensive national power will set the conditions for the PRC's ability to confront or dissuade the United States and prevent containment. As China’s leaders seek to translate the PRC's growing economic and military means into influence to advance their international aspirations, they must also carefully balance the PRC's expanding interests across their priorities and resources.
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OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China
