Pepperdine University rests on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean, a vast body of water that makes for a great view. But this seemingly tranquil expanse has become the principal stage for increasing tensions between two Pacific powers: the United States and China. Since China began its meteoric rise as an international economic power, it has also invested heavily in spreading its influence throughout the eastern Pacific.

From here, China’s ascendency in the Pacific might seem like a distant concern, but it isn’t: China is our greatest economic competitor on the global stage, and decisions made in Beijing have a ripple effect on the American job market. China’s geopolitical expansions are setting the stage for future tensions that our generation will be left to deal with.

The choices made by the People’s Republic of China paint a clear picture of their ambitions: Chinese currency is kept undervalued to stay competitive against the U.S. dollar; Chinese laborers are underpaid and overtaxed, a cheap workforce churning out cheap products, all leading to a GDP that outstrips those of the United States and Europe.

China’s main goal is rapid expansion, and the government is pursuing it through every means available to them.

But the United States has answered this Chinese expansion with an effort of its own: The Obama Administration has orchestrated a sweeping shift in foreign policy, taking the focus off of money pits in the Middle East and turning attention (and resources) to the China Problem.

With the Pentagon’s new austerity budget, the United States will devote less of its time to interventions in troubled regions in favor of protecting the home front. Unlike the Middle East, the Pacific region is populated by stable, largely democratic nations. U.S. power there will rely less on our own investment, and more on strong relationships with other nations.

In the Pacific theater, the United States has reached out to other Pacific nations, strengthening military ties and trade relationships, much to the consternation of Beijing. We’ve begun preliminary discussions with the Philippines, a nation that already hosts roughly 600 U.S. troops. 2,500 Marines will be stationed in Australia in a new U.S. base — an agreement that marks the first substantial expansion of American military presence in the Pacific since the Vietnam War.

Beijing has met this affirmation of American power in the region with a statement of its own: China has invested heavily in modernizing its military, and deploying long-range aircraft and a more able deep-sea naval force.

It is not just in military expansion that the United States and China have traded blows. President Obama has hit the Chinese where it truly hurts them, their wallets. In his last State of the Union Address, the president announced the creation of a Trade Enforcement Unit, tasked with investigating unfair trading practices, most particularly by China. The Senate has passed harsh trade legislation that will impose higher tariffs on some Chinese imports, punishment for China’s currency manipulation. And as the U.S. economy continues to regain strength, American manufacturers will once again become competitive on the global market.

In a column in Foreign Policy, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asserted:
“Beyond our borders, people are also wondering about America’s intentions — our willingness to remain engaged and to lead. In Asia, they ask whether we are really there to stay, whether we are likely to be distracted again by events elsewhere, whether we can make — and keep — credible economic and strategic commitments, and whether we can back those commitments with action. The answer is: We can, and we will.”

Let’s hope so, because for us Americans the biggest issue in foreign policy — one that will decide not just our economic future, but our geopolitical one as well — lies just beyond the beach.