美国政治极化与对华政策的极端化

美国总统特朗普执政以来,美国两党的斗争异常激烈,政治极化程度之深为近几十年来所罕见,有学者甚至称其为超级极化。面对政治极化及其背后的深层问题,美国总统特朗普为巩固执政权威、两党政客为解决国内经济问题,都将对华强硬作为优先事项。美国部分学术界精英等提出为了凝聚人心和强化国家认同,呼吁与中国开展新冷战。这股强大的力量与中美两国结构性矛盾趋于尖锐一起,共同推动了美国对华政策的极端化。但与中国对抗无法缓解美国激烈的党争,难以改善其国内的不平等问题,也解决不了美国国家认同面临的长期挑战。美国要走出政治极化,需要共和党或民主党通过选民重组获得对另一方的压倒性优势,从而长期主导政治议程。未来美国的党争还会非常激烈,但不管其国内政治如何演进,美国对华强硬的趋势都很难改变。

American Political Polarization and Extremalization of Its China Policy

Since President Trump came into power,the bipartisan fights has been unprecedentedly fierce, giving rise to a depth of political polarization unseen in the US for decades. As a result, some scholars even called it super polarization. Faced with political polarization and deep-seated issues behind it, both President Trump and politicians from the two parties have prioritized getting tough with China, either to consolidate his ruling authority or to address economic issues at home. Some elites in American academic circle have called for a new Cold War with China in order to increase cohesion and consolidate national identity in America. This powerful force, prompted by intensifying structural contradictions between the US and China, has led American policy toward China to extremes. Nevertheless, confronting China cannot mitigate the fierce bipartisan fight in the US, nor can it resolve the issue of inequality in American society, letting alone responding to the challenge long facing American national identity. To get America out of political polarization, either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party has to gain an overwhelming advantage over the other party through realigning voters so as to dominate political agendas for long. In future, the bipartisan fight in America will remain fierce. However, no matter how domestic politics evolves in the US, it will be hard to change the trend of getting tough with China.