Long before the WTO membership, the creation of the export machine, the 2008 Olympics, the construction of the Uighur camps, and the repression in Hong Kong, Huntington predicted that China would rise and seek to dominate its neighborhood. Leaders in the West, who were not that prescient in 1996, are now attempting to resist. Is this a clash of civilizations, or something else?
I have on many occasions described the Chinese state ideology as “Chinese exceptionalism” rather than communism. That is consistent with Huntington. The problem with attributing the conflict between China and America to a clash of civilizations, however, is that Taiwan and South Korea, both part of Huntington’s “Sinic” sphere of influence, are robust democracies and American allies. The very different character of regimes with similar cultures is not consistent with Huntington.
While there is certainly an element of culture war (or, if you insist, racism) in America’s fear of China, more of it has to do with China’s turn towards more rigorous authoritarianism at home and aggression abroad over the last decade. These developments were a matter of choice for the Chinese leadership; they were in no way the inevitable product of Chinese culture. As a result, I don’t think you can say this is a pure clash of civilizations; there are elements of ideology and great power rivalry at work, as well.