Xi’s trip to the U.S. over more than four days reminded us of the profound meaning of a Tang dynasty poem, “The east and the west give life to the sun and the moon; night and day are like turning precious stones” (Yuan Zhen, “The Bitter Rain”). The “east and west” describe the vast world. And while there will always be a great distance between people, mankind together creates the glories of the sun, moon and the stars.
In terms of culture, knowledge and wisdom, China has been the most abundant from ancient to modern times, while the U.S. is the richest empire in modern times. Xi’s visit to the U.S. is his fifth (he went there during his days as a student, and also in 1980 as a member of the military delegation led by Geng Biao [of the Communist Party of China’s Central Military Commission]. He is familiar with the country and has the relaxed, comfortable and humorous demeanor of the Americans.
The U.S. considers itself to be the status quo power at the pinnacle of the pyramid of the world order, and in the past viewed China with a sense of disgust as a revisionist power. In recent years, it has gradually come to regard China as a status quo power and accepted her as a member of the putative international community, demanding that she shoulder more obligations and naming her as a “responsible stakeholder.”
An Emphasis that China and the U.S. Should Work Together to Overcome Times of Difficulties
China and the U.S. hold the Strategic and Economic Dialogue each year, and in June last year established under this platform the Strategic Security Dialogue the consultation on Asia-Pacific affairs.* In these dialogues, old hands Dai Bingguo and Wang Qishan also pushed the “responsible stakeholder” position onto the U.S. Xi seized this crucial point during the recent visit and threw the ball of “responsibility” that had been given to China back to the U.S. court with a smile on his face.
In a welcome lunch held by friendly American organizations on Feb. 15, Xi delivered a speech titled “Working Together to Build a Better Future for the Sino-U.S. Partnership,” in which he pointed out many figures such as: In the 33 years since China and the U.S. established diplomatic relations, the bilateral trade volume grew by 180 times, and is likely to exceed $500 billion in 2012; U.S.’ exports to China grew 468 percent in the last 10 years; and China has become the fastest growing export market of the U.S. These are incontestable facts, and the “Chinese threat” has nowhere to hide.
Xi also brought up once again the package of cooperation initiatives to promote China-U.S. trade and investments, and emphasized that the two nations have to work together to overcome times of difficulties. The following day, Mitt Romney, one of the candidates competing for the Republican presidential nomination, wrote about sanctioning China in The Washington Post. [The Washington Post] reporter Eugene Robinson asked in his commentary, “China is serious about its direction. Why aren’t we about ours?” Based on his own observations during his visit to China [last year], the country is paying close attention to the attitude of the American government and public toward China, so it is already used to anti-Chinese sentiments during elections. It is, however, searching carefully for reassurance from American public opinion of a harmonious relationship between China and the U.S.
On Feb. 15, Xi once again went on his own to have a dialogue with some senior Democratic and Republican senators at the Capitol. Former Republican presidential candidate John McCain criticized China on issues like human rights and Syria, but Xi resolved the situation by replying, “Senator McCain, your forthrightness is truly well-known all over China!”
This highlight got the attention of the Los Angeles Times and other American media. One of the dialogue’s participants, Republican Sen. Charles Grassley from Iowa, praised Xi for being more “globalized” and “Westernized” than other Chinese leaders who had visited the U.S. recently, describing the dialogue this time as a love-fest.
A Lively and Spontaneous American Tour
Mao Zedong once advocated “playing the piano with ten fingers,” but with regard to Sino-U.S. relations, people play either the tune of “friendly cooperation” or that of “competitive conflict.” Xi Jinping’s visit to Roger and Sarah Lande’s house in the town of Muscatine to catch up on old times and to Los Angeles to catch an NBA basketball game unexpectedly turned what the public believed to be a scripted trip to the U.S. into something lively and spontaneous.
On Feb. 17, in a conversation with a group of American youth who are learning Chinese in Los Angeles, Xi revealed that he likes to read, swim and watch games, and used the title of the American movie “Mission: Impossible” to describe life in general, thus resonating with the America youth.
On Feb. 14, the gun salute that was sounded at the Pentagon to welcome Xi (who is both the second-in-command of the Military Commission of the Communist Party Central Committee and China’s vice president) in the grandest ceremony was also unprecedented. This symbolized that currently what worries the U.S. most are Islam and terror, not China. The American military is on guard against China but does not fear the nation.
The U.S. Navy has deployed two new amphibious assault vessels in the “maritime crossroads” of the Asia-Pacific theater. It is paying close attention to the fact that, with China having the world’s largest shipyard since 2010, it has been able to manufacture type 071 amphibious landing ships that are larger than aircraft carrier ships and could carry helicopters, armored vehicles, hovercrafts and 800 soldiers for peacetime tactical deployments.
With regard to the principles promoted by the American military officials — of “respect, mutual trust, reciprocity and mutual benefit” between the Chinese and American military — Xi pointed out that the two forces have more and more intersecting interests in non-traditional security areas such as anti-terrorism, nonproliferation, anti-piracy, humanitarian aid and disaster mitigation. He stressed that the military departments must “serve to build the overall Sino-U.S. cooperative partnership.”
On Feb. 14, at the welcome lunch hosted by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Xi used lyrics from the theme song of the Chinese television drama “Journey to the West” during his address: “May I ask where the path is? It is where you take your first step.” It brought out the fact that China and the U.S. “have the wisdom, ability and means to maintain and develop their cooperative partnership. … We’ll set an unprecedented and inspiring example for countries with different political systems, histories, cultures and levels of economic development to cultivate positive and cooperative relations.”
President Obama, undeterred by gossip, received Xi at the White House on Valentine’s Day and had some “private conversations” with him (but also said publicly that “it is absolutely vital that we have [a] strong relationship with China”). The welcome lunch that Hilary Clinton hosted on that day was also filled with the air of Valentine’s Day. Not only had she dressed up like a Chinese bride, she also said in a warm welcome speech, “[Y]ou’re here on what we call Valentine’s Day, which is a time that is for love but also friendship.” At the same time, she allowed Vice President Joe Biden to say some negative words during his official welcome speech. The purpose of this was to avoid letting the opposition accuse the government of being “too soft.”
In a speech he had written at the airport when he arrived in the U.S., Xi said that while China and the U.S. cannot be lovers, they could still be partners. In fact, besides the mutual show of excessive attention on Valentine’s Day, this “lover” of the U.S. cannot help but also blow hot and cold, showering “I love you’s” during normal times but screaming “I hate you” during fights.
If Xi wanted to pay a return visit to Biden’s visit to China last year in the capacity of vice president, he had to do it during this U.S. presidential election year (he will no longer be vice president next year). It was unavoidable that China would once again be used as a whipping boy during a U.S. election year. Xi had predicted this, and during a dinner with senior members of the Democratic and Republican parties on Feb. 13, he expressed hope that the American politicians’ campaign speeches would not cause regrettable damage to the Sino-U.S. relationship.
A report in the Los Angeles Times said that in a public poll in December last year, 63 percent of Americans thought that China is friendly, but it is not necessarily an ally. Thirteen percent thought that China is an ally, and only 17 percent thought that China is not friendly. Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on United States-China Relations, summarized Xi’s visit to the U.S., saying “[t]hat China cannot prosper without a prosperous United States, and the United States can’t prosper without a prosperous China.” This is a successful accomplishment indeed!
*Editor’s note: The Strategic Security Dialogue and consultation on the Asia Pacific were established in the May 2011 Strategic and Economic Dialogue.
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