China-US Relations: Let's Meet Half-Way

United States Secretary of State John Kerry will be visiting China from April 13 to 14, his first visit since he took office. Since the start of this year, high officials from both countries have frequently been in touch. The day Xi Jinping was elected as China’s president, he talked to President Obama on the phone by appointment. Kerry has talked to Yang Jiechi and Wang Yi six times. The current U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and government administrator Jack Lew has been received by Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection Wang Qishan.

Thirty-four years have passed since 1979, when the two countries first established diplomatic relations. During these years, the China-U.S. relationship has developed as one of the most vital and dynamic bilateral relationships around the world. Both China and the U.S. have become each other’s second largest trade partner. In 2012, the amount of bilateral goods traded hit $484.7 billion, 198 times as much as that in 1979. Among the 50 states of the U.S., China is one of the top three exporters for 29 of them. Forty-one sister states or provinces and 191 sister cities have been established. In 2012, there were about 150,000 Chinese students studying in the U.S. and 30,000 American students in China. Approximately 10,000 people cross the Pacific Ocean between the two countries on a daily basis, and every 24 minutes a cargo or passenger aircraft takes off for the other side.

As the biggest developing country and its biggest developed counterpart, respectively, China and the U.S. account for one-third of the world’s gross economy, one-fourth of the world’s total population, and one-fifth of total trade combined. The scope of the China-U.S. relationship has clearly extended beyond the two countries. As China is gaining pace for development, new answers to the question of whether China, the emergent power, and the United States, the incumbent, can find ways to get along with each other have attracted tremendous attention. Some compare China and the U.S. to two elephants in a jungle: If they fight, the whole jungle will suffer accordingly, while peace between them heralds joy. Maintaining a stable relationship between China and the United States serves the interest of the U.S.’ own people, but also fulfills the expectations of the Pacific region and the international society. What is comforting is that both the Chinese and U.S. governments have reached consensus regarding joint progress in development through mutual respect, reciprocal cooperation and partnership, and both these great powers are interested in exploring and building a new relationship.

Needless to say, due to huge differences in political structure, phases of development, cultural history and conditions of national strength, China and the U.S. have divided opinions on such matters as Taiwan, Tibet and human rights. These disagreements cannot be resolved overnight. However, if both are genuinely eager to build new rapport, they will have to learn to manage, control and neutralize these divergences in order to remove those factors that will impede or shock their relationship. The relationship should be uncomplicated and avoid the fluctuations of the roller coaster ride that these distractions would create. The more fundamental and thornier problems can be put aside for the time being; not treating the problem is also a kind of treatment.

To ensure the smooth development of their relationship, not only should negative factors like disagreements be managed and controlled, the positive elements of collaboration need to simultaneously be expanded. Under the current situation, apart from enhancing partnership and communication in fields such as economic development, trade and culture, both nations should seize the opportunity to rearrange their industrial structures and accelerate cooperation in new areas such as clean energy, information technology, electric vehicles, raw materials, medicine and medical equipment and manufacturing. In addition to that, both Chinese and U.S. enterprises should be encouraged to strengthen cooperation on projects such as development of the high-speed rail and the smart grid, and the construction of highways, ports, bridges, as well as sports, medical and residential-friendly communities. Looking for areas of cooperation is the mutual impetus that will push their relationship forward and become the basis for its development.

We hope that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will spread positive signals during his visit, demonstrating his country’s willingness to deepen trust, extend cooperation, manage divergences and head in the same direction as China.