Leaders’ Mutual Trust Is Crucial for China-US Relations

Published in Sina
(China) on 23 May 2013
by Wenzhao Tao (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Stefanie Zhou. Edited by Laurence Bouvard.
Chairman Jinping Xi is about to visit three countries in Central and South America and meet with President Obama at the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Estate, California, U.S. This is an important step for China’s diplomacy since its leadership change. In its first couple of months, China’s leadership has been making an impression. The footsteps of China’s leader will cover all continents of the world, presenting the layout of China’s diplomacy under the new regime in all directions.

The “manor meeting” this time is an innovation. In the past, China’s leaders have mostly visited for state business, occasionally for work, but this type of “manor meeting” is very rare. “Sunnylands,” Walter and Leonore Annenberg’s estate, is an important location that has been visited by seven U.S. presidents, has received the queen of England and other important foreign guests, and is known as the “West Coast Camp David.” In such a serene and elegant environment, the two countries’ leaders can be more relaxed, more candid, discuss issues of mutual interest more comprehensively and communicate more effectively. This also shows that China’s leader is now more confident and Sino-U.S. relations more mature.

Currently, there are more than 90 communication and cooperation platforms for strategic and economic conversations between China and the United States, but face-to-face meetings between the leaders are still the most important mechanism and the highest level of strategic conversation between the two countries. When Nixon and Mao Zedong met and discussed “philosophy,” the reasoning behind it was to look at and grasp Sino-U.S. relations from a general, overall, strategic long-term perspective and not be limited to specific issues. Since then, the leaders of the two countries from one generation to the next have been doing just this, focusing on the longer term, overcoming obstacles and pushing Sino-U.S. relations forward. The “manor meeting” this time also provides an important opportunity for the two leaders to explore together the creation of new relations between major powers. Once the overall position of Sino-U.S. relations is resolved, it will be easier to handle the specific issues.

Establishing personal trust between leaders can play a crucial role in strengthening strategic mutual trust between two countries, especially in dealing with thorny problems. There is always mutual trust between the chairmen of China and the presidents of the U.S., so in the “ice-breaking period,” Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai had mutual trust with Nixon and Kissinger, and in the normalization period, Deng Xiaoping had mutual trust with Carter and Brzezinski. Face to face meetings between the leaders where they can freely exchange views on various issues is essential for establishing mutual trust between the two sides. The “manor meeting” this time is the first meeting with the leader of China for Obama in his second term of great significance.

Currently, both China and the United States are making domestic policy a priority. Due to high economic interdependence, the domestic problems of the two countries have to some extent also become problems in bilateral relations. The two sides can help each other to achieve their domestic policy goals; the development of one party will benefit the other party. China can help the U.S. create jobs and realize the plan to double exports. Applying the same principle, the economic recovery of the U.S. can also help China’s export growth. Since the financial crisis, the G-20 has repeatedly stressed the importance of strengthening national macroeconomic coordination. These are important changes that globalization has brought to international relations.

The meeting this time is a good opportunity for the two countries’ leaders to fully communicate and promote a mutual understanding. We look forward to the complete success of this “manor meeting.”

The author is an honorary academician of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences


  习近平主席即将出访中南美洲三国,并在美国加州安纳伯格庄园会晤美国总统奥巴马。这是中国领导人换届以来中国外交的重要步骤。短短两个多月,中国的高层外交风生水起,中国领导人的足迹将踏遍世界各大洲,新形势下的中国全方位外交布局清晰呈现。

  此次“庄园会晤”是一个创新。中国领导人以前出访大多是国事访问,间或有工作访问,却很少有这样的“庄园会晤”。“阳光之乡”安纳伯格庄园是一处重要的所在,7位美国总统去过那里,接待过英国女王等重要外宾,有“西部戴维营”之称。在庄园这样宁静、幽雅的环境里,两国领导人可以更加放松、更加坦率、更加充分地讨论双方感兴趣的问题,进行更好的沟通。这也说明现在中国领导人更加自信,中美关系更加成熟。

  当前中美之间有90多个沟通、合作的平台,有战略与经济对话,但领导人面对面的会晤仍然是最重要的机制,是两国最高层次的战略对话。当年尼克松来访时毛泽东跟他谈“哲学”,其含义就是不拘泥、不局限于具体问题,从宏观、从大局、从战略、从长远来看待、把握中美关系。此后一代一代的两国领导人都是这样,登高望远,这才克服了重重障碍,把中美关系推向前进。这次“庄园会晤”也为两国领导人共同探索缔造新型大国关系提供了一个重要的机会。把中美关系大的定位问题解决了,具体问题就会比较好处理。

  建立领导人个人之间的信任对两国关系之间加强战略互信,尤其是处理两国之间的棘手问题,可以起到至关重要的作用。历史表明,在中美关系的“破冰”时期,毛泽东、周恩来与尼克松、基辛格之间是有互信的。在正常化时期,邓小平与卡特、布热津斯基之间是有互信的。领导人面对面的会晤,无拘无束地坦诚地交换对各种问题的看法,对于双方建立互信是不可或缺的。此番“庄园会晤”是奥巴马第二任期与中国领导人的首次会晤,意义重大。

  当前中美双方的施政重点都在国内。由于两国经济的高度相互依存,两国各自的国内问题在一定程度上也成为双边关系中的问题,双方可以互相帮助对方来实现国内政策的目标。而每一方的发展也会给对方带来利益。中国可以帮助美国创造就业岗位,实现出口倍增计划;同样道理,美国经济复苏也能帮助中国的出口增长。金融危机以来,20国峰会一再强调加强各国宏观经济的协调,这正是全球化给国际关系带来的重要变化。

  此次会晤是两国领导人进行充分沟通、增进相互了解的一个好机会。我们期待着此次“庄园会晤”取得圆满成功。

  (作者为中国社会科学院荣誉学部委员)
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