U.S. President Barack Obama mentioned China five times in his 2012 State of the Union address on Jan. 24. "I will not stand by when our competitors do not play by the rules. We have brought trade cases against China at nearly twice the rate as the last administration," Obama stressed in his speech, indicating that the United States seeks to use the so-called rules to contain China.

In an exclusive interview with Time Magazine on Jan. 18, Obama said that an important principle for maintaining peace, safety, and economic prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region is that everybody plays by the same set of rules and abides by a set of international norms. Whether it is maritime issues or trade issues, China cannot do whatever it thinks is best for it, and must play by the same rules as everybody else. There has been some friction in China-U.S. relations because China still sees itself as a developing or even poor country that should be able to pursue mercantilist policies that are for its benefit and where the rules applying to it should not be the same rules that apply to the United States, Europe, or other major powers.

Obama's remarks have fully shown that the United States is using "rules" as a new tool to contain China and to promote the eastward shift of its strategic center, in order to set the rules of the game for its own benefit and to enjoy "America's Pacific Century."

What are the "rules" mentioned by the United States?

In the maritime safety area, the United States is taking "freedom of navigation" as an excuse and making use of border disputes between China and some other countries to step in the South China Sea issue. The United States requires other countries to obey relevant rules of the International Law of the Sea, but the United States itself has not signed the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

In the economic and trade area, the United States is trying to reconstruct and make use of the current system of the Asia-Pacific region to confirm its dominant status in the region. For example, it has been greatly promoting the Trans -Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) in recent years. It wants to reconstruct the TPP into a high-quality and binding economic and trade framework and a new-generation model of free trade, and if other countries want to join it, they must reach same high standards in areas of the intellectual property rights, labor forces, state-owned enterprise and others. Actually, the United States wants to make new rules and set new standards.

In the military area, on Jan. 15, Barack Obama came to the Pentagon personally and gave a new military strategy report named Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense. The report says that the United States will shift its military focus to the Asia-Pacific region and strengthen its military presence in the region. A senior U.S. naval officer even declared that the United States will deploy one third of its naval forces in the Western Pacific region. Therefore, sustaining U.S. global leadership and allowing no potential challenger is also a "rule" of the United States.

Actually, the United States has always been pragmatic toward rules and adopts rules if they are useful, otherwise it will abandon them. Take the issue of climate change as an example, the international community has already established the Common but Differentiated Responsibilities Principle, but the United States, unwilling to take the responsibilities, demanded developing countries to shoulder responsibilities beyond their own capabilities.

The United States must lower itself and learn to respect diversities and varieties of the Asian-Pacific region and core interests of other countries. More importantly, any practice of driving a wedge or making divisions in the Asian-Pacific region is behind the times and will certainly face opposition of a majority of countries in this region.

Currently, the international order is going through huge revolution and the game of setting rules will become the new arena for China and the United States. China should participate in making international rules and setting the agenda more actively and proactively and use rules to safeguard its own interests. Only in this way, can China enhance its international power of discourse more effectively and further improve its competitive edge in shaping international rules.