The dissolution of the Soviet Union marked the transition of a bipolar world into a multipolar world. In the bipolar political world, trade was primarily a Western regime. The world was a sphere of contention between the two super powers that did not trade and aid was the exclusive tool of ideological competition and economic development . In a multipolar world, trade has become global, replacing aid as the recognized tool of economic development. American planners see world trade and globalization as a vehicle to a new world order under U.S. tutelage in which market capitalism and Western democratic principles rule.
China sees foreign trade as means to achieving world power status along mercantilist paths.
These two separate and different objects will inevitably clash. The U.S. see bilateral trade as a privilege to be granted to countries which subscribe to American values and in concert with American national interests. China see bilateral trade with richer nations as a moral obligation of rich nations to equalize historical economic injustice. Security threats faced by China in a multi-polar world have not diminished. The main threat has shifted now to the form of ethnic separatism, mainly orchestrated by U.S. interest in the name of freedom, human rights and democracy.