“Joint Statement” in Accordance with Chinese & American Public Opinion

Summary: The societies of both China and the U.S. still harbor a fair amount of strategic doubts toward one another, but the leaders of both steadily guide the two countries to look forward and confront all kinds of uncertainties between China and the U.S. with optimism. Thus, the powers on the Pacific have seen an unprecedented rise in their capacity to benefit.

The Chinese and American heads of state signed a joint statement on [Jan.] 19, calling the two countries “cooperative partners.” This achievement could temporarily sweep all sorts of China-U.S. suspicions into the Pacific Ocean. China and the United States’ approach to one another up until now has already spurred a miracle in international relations; the next few decades will test whether this miracle is a real turning point in the history of mankind, or if it is merely a beautiful but short-lived moment in the history of the incurable rise and fall of great nations.

The achievements of Hu Jintao’s visit to the U.S. have received a high degree of praise, but there are also a few Western media outlets that have obstinately objected to the contents of the joint statement between the two nations. Reuters said China-U.S. relations were with “no major breakthrough,” but those commentators are not aware that China and the U.S. might be reconstructing politics and culture between the two powers. The two nations’ reluctance not to cooperate and their dependence on one another are corroding the traditional life-and-death battle for hegemony among great powers. Nothing is too certain, but a beginning counter to that of historical experience is taking the stage.

In the past two years, China and the U.S. have had one conflict after another, but the two nations have demonstrated a degree of caution rarely seen in history. In the past, never has there been a country that has risen to become a great power as abruptly as China who has gotten along with the established international system as it has, avoiding challenging it or hurting it as much as possible. Nor has there been in the past a supreme power as comparatively pragmatic and moderate as the U.S. has been in avoiding forcing the rising nation into the position of an enemy.

The societies of both China and the U.S. still harbor a fair amount of strategic doubts toward one another, but the leaders of both countries steadily guide the two countries to look forward and confront all kinds of uncertainties between China and the U.S. with optimism. Thus, the powers on the Pacific have seen an unprecedented rise in their capacity to benefit. This may very well be a major contribution toward lasting peace in the world.

The events of the past few days show that mankind’s patience and reason can break through the limits of historical experience. The attraction of peace and prosperity override all else. While it may be tempting to struggle to gain the upper hand, there is no market price for this. When you really want to peddle goods, this is something you may not be able to sell. The China-U.S. joint statement emphasized “mutual respect and mutual benefit,” representing the true public opinion of both China and the U.S.

The world ought to applaud Hu’s visit to the U.S. and applaud the sagacity of the vision of both China and the United States’ leaders. The postures of China and the U.S. have placated all kinds of anxieties in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as suppressed the rise of opportunism. The will of China and the U.S. is certain: As the world emerges from its drunken state, global development can be thrown even more in the direction of the people’s welfare, and we can avoid spending too much labor and too many resources on uncertain and strenuous preparation.

However, China and the United States’ “partnership” clearly has yet to reach the point of no return. On [Jan.] 19, Obama said, “We [the U.S.] welcome China’s rise.” This sentence is not strongly representative of the West, as many people do not feel this way. The nature of how China’s rise is judged and its level of acceptance will increasingly become the shaping force confronting China-U.S. relations.

We wait with anticipation for the U.S. to become more and more open-minded, while at the same time, we open up our own minds to handle the concrete manifestation of “narrow-mindedness,” which could appear in the U.S. in the future. From China and the United States’ mutual suspicions of the past, such formidable cooperative resources have accumulated, enforcing that the two countries cannot let their “anger” toward one another grow too great. The Chinese people should build up their confidence. China and the U.S. can mutually transmit confidence to one another. We cannot rely on persuasion and explanations to build confidence, but it will instead accumulate a little at a time.