Cooperation between China and U.S. Should Be Expanded

Since President Obama ended his first visit to China last November, there has been friction between China and America regarding trade, currency, Tibet and Taiwan. It seems that the Sino-U.S. relationship has bottomed out. Fortunately both governments were sensible enough to play those issues down, which shows a more mature side of the Sino-U.S. relationship.

Recently, Chinese President Hu Jintao attended the Washington Nuclear Security Summit, in which the game between China and the U.S. again caught the attention of the world. China’s attendance at the summit was deemed a sign of warming in the Sino-U.S. relationship. A Strategic and Economic Dialogue between the U.S. and China will be held in May. It is expected that relations between the two sides will take a turn for the better.

China’s economy has achieved a huge success by maintaining a rapid growth rate of about 9 percent per year over the last 30 years. The world acknowledged that China’s economy had contributed a lot to the recovery of the global economy during the financial crisis. To assort with the rapid economic and industrial development, China will need more oil and mineral resources, which will further cement China within the global market. China’s role in the global economy and in the international financial system will be consolidated, and China’s development will be a powerful impetus to the development of Asian and Pacific regions and of the world.

China’s development has not only rejuvenated the global economy but also intensified international business competition. Facing mounting unemployment and a huge trade surplus with China, Americans trace all the invidiousness to the myth that the Yuan is grossly undervalued, which means that China enjoys a cost advantage. The fact is that the trade surplus has nothing to do with the Yuan's being undervalued. It’s the result of economic globalization. China understands that Washington is confronted with domestic pressures during the economic crisis and would like to discuss issues of common interest, but labeling China as a currency manipulator does nothing but impede cooperation between the two sides.

Besides bridging the divide in economies, both sides should promote their mutual trust in political and military fields, too.

Like the development of the Chinese economy, the modernization of Chinese military forces has been promoted steadily over the years, which gives rise to Washington’s surmises about China’s strategic intentions. Some hold the opinion that Chinese military policies are “covert,” that the Chinese government would like to hide the country’s military capabilities and that this great Eastern power’s ambition is to take the place of America as world leader. Washington must abandon those fallacies, or negative influences will be brought into Sino-U.S. relations.

America should believe that a country with no militarism tradition has not, and will not, dominate the world. Today, there is a change in the balance of power between the two countries. China should understand America’s concerns and handle the relation in a cautious and patient way. In fact, both sides need to strengthen their mutual trust now more than ever.

Threat theories should be eliminated in the Sino-U.S. relationship. Strengthening cooperation between the two sides should not be viewed as an expedient measure, either. China and the U.S., both as superpowers that can greatly influence the world, should strengthen their mutual trust and cooperation, which will be a great contribution to regional stability and world peace. Cooperation between China and the U.S. is beneficial to world progress.