Deep talks for future ties
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US concepts, such as "shares-holder", "strategic reassurance", and the "group of two", or Chinese constructs, such as "peaceful rise", "peaceful development" and "harmonious world," are proof of both nations' aspirations to free themselves from geopolitical repercussions caused by a changed international political landscape and to avoid a possible conflict between a recognized superpower and an emerging power.
As two countries that undertake joint responsibility for world peace and prosperity, it is incumbent upon China and the US to push forward the S&ED with a longer-term perspective in a bid to map out the future of bilateral ties.
In the context of the global financial crisis and changes to the international order, the US remains particularly sensitive to a fast-growing China and its rising clout.
This makes it quite difficult for Beijing and Washington to achieve strategic mutual trust. The US should be well aware of the fact that China cannot challenge its interests in the foreseeable future.
China's so-called intransigence on issues regarding its core interest is only an effort to wipe away the disgrace the country suffered in the century since the Opium War and should be viewed as just efforts to maintain minimal dignity.
China's fast economic development and its rising influence are only being used to help millions of its citizens out of poverty, and not to challenge the US' status as the world's numero uno power.
The country's cheap exports to the US and its large-scale purchase of US government bonds have become an important factor to bolster the world's largest economy and the status of the dollar.
China's active efforts to undertake its due international responsibilities, and its participation in the US-led international order and pursuit of strategic stability with the US have been in Washington's interest.
The US should not just use diplomatic language when it says it welcomes a powerful and prosperous China. It is a fact that, in its previous talks with China, the US always presented a long list of issues on which Beijing was required to make concessions.
It is the belief among many US politicians that the extension of the US' hegemony lies in its growing national strength and attractiveness to the outside world. The US should abandon the belief that its adherence to the Cold War mentality and its intervention in China's internal affairs will not dent the positive image Washington has tried to forge among Chinese people.
As the world's largest developing and developed nations, any turbulence in Sino-US relations will strain the nerves of the international community. The role the two countries play in world affairs highlights the significance of the China-US S&ED.
At a time when China and the US are increasingly interdependent, the US should not only ask what China can do for itself, but also what it can do for China, and what both can do for world prosperity.
The author is a scholar at the Institute of American Studies under the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.
