本論文旨在探討二十一世紀，美國面臨中國在東亞的經營，如何維持其在東亞的霸權所作的努力。冷戰結束後，美國在國際社會成為碩果僅存的霸權。藉此優勢，美國得以遂其意志，有些甚至非其能力所及。雖然美國可確定是當今唯一的霸權，但中國挾其經濟快速起飛之利，不但在全球各地揮舞其影響力，更試圖擴大外交上的戰果。此外，中國軍事成長之快速，從軍事現代化到太空競賽，足以顯示中國將改變東亞的政治環境及地區安全。因此，中國的崛起對美國霸權，尤其在東亞，被視為一潛在的威脅。美國要如何鞏固其在東亞的霸權領導地位，自然為當前極為迫切的議題。由研究發現，美國所作的努力倍極艱辛、複雜但結果是成功的。

After the end of the Cold War in 1991, the United States poses a unique position in the international system. As hegemony, the U.S. has the greatest stake in the existing order. Yet it also takes advantage of its position as the most powerful nation in the world to bend that order to its will and even act outside the limits of the system. It seems to confirm American hegemony, with the U.S. left as the only superpower. With its soaring rise, however, China is looming as a potential challenger to the U.S. hegemony in East Asia. China not only wields radically increasing commercial clout in all regions of the globe, but also tries to achieve diplomatic advantage with respect to the United States. Further, Beijing’s rapid, deep, and wide-ranging modernization in military capabilities ranging from diesel submarines to micro-satellites and the launching of ballistic missile destroying one of its own orbiting weather satellites will enable China to increasingly dominate the East Asian littoral. Therefore, how to maintain American hegemony especially in East Asia has become a pressing issue for the United States. The thesis uses in-depth studies of critical literature and case study to analyze the wrestle between U.S. and China in East Asian Area. From the research one can find that the effort the U.S. has made to maintain its hegemonic leadership in East Asia is hard but successful.

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