U.S.-China talks occur at critical time for bilateral relations, scholars say
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The Sixth Meeting of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) took place from July 9 to 10 in Beijing, exploring the prospects of U.S.-China cooperative relations.
The Sixth Meeting of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) took place from July 9 to 10 in Beijing. Since 2009, the S&ED has offered a platform for both countries to address bilateral, regional and global challenges and opportunities.
Convened on the 35th anniversary of the establishment of U.S.-China diplomatic relations, this year’s meeting comes at a critical juncture, bringing stability to the U.S.-China relationship.
Candid airing of differences
In the article “What You Need to Know about the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue” posted on the website of Brookings Institute, Li Cheng discussed the prospects of U.S.-China relations. In his opinion, the S&ED is intended to link security issues and economic issues in a strategic way. The previous rounds of the dialogue have shown that when the two countries have found insurmountable barriers in one arena, they might have a better chance of achieving breakthroughs in the other. Significant progress in terms of economic cooperation could prevent security tensions from deteriorating further, he argued.
Li Cheng wrote that in June 2013, Barack Obama and Xi Jinping met in Sunnylands, California, where the presidents voiced support for “a new model of major power relations,” hoping to ameliorate potential animosities and broaden U.S.-China cooperation.
However, a year later, the prospects for larger political and strategic understandings seem far more grim. A host of contentious issues, ranging from cyber espionage, mounting maritime tensions in the East China Sea and South China Sea, growing complaints from U.S. firms about access to the Chinese market to fractious internal debate within both countries about each other’s strategic intentions have undermined the possibilities for progress, he said.
Therefore, a candid airing of differences should be at the very core of the S&ED process, he said. The presence of senior officials can also provide necessary guidance for policy bureaucracies in advance of President Obama’s November visit to China for the APEC Leaders’ Meeting and the anticipated renewal of face-to-face discussions between the two presidents.
Deputy Director of the Institute of American Studies Wang Honggang noted that for the past half year, suspicion and competition have escalated, which Wang contends was due to America’s bullying China on the controversial issues of Asia and China’s assertiveness in tackling such issues.
Left uncontrolled, the tensions would destabilize U.S.-China relations, Wang argued. The good news is that the two parties are clearly aware of the risks and have sent friendly signals to each other in hopes of further strengthening bilateral ties.
Definitely, a two-day dialogue cannot eliminate the underlying differences and suspicions in U.S.-China relations. But policymakers can reinforce a shared awareness of their mutual responsibilities for what is arguably the world’s most consequential bilateral relationship, Li said.
Deputy Director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University Song Guoyou noted that there were voices of doubt about whether S&ED could take place as scheduled, and some even recommended that it be postponed. Fortunately, it went on as planned. This means that the leaders of both China and U.S. have a precise understanding of their mutual relations. Despite the tensions that characterize the current situation, they sat down to talk.
Stable ties on the whole
Fan Jishe, a research fellow from the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences remarked that face-to-face communication between leaders from both countries indicates that the platform of S&ED is highly valued. U.S.-China relations are rich and complex, but on the whole, the two countries share stable ties, he concluded. Discussing the external impact of U.S.-China relations, Song Guoyou said friendly relation between the two is also what most neighboring countries expect. Moreover, in the long run, the deterioration of relations, if it were to happen, would ripple outward, affecting the regional security and social economy of other countries.
To maintain sound U.S.-China relations and ensure the peaceful co-existence of the two, we need more than dialogues, scholars argue. Actively responding to problems and coming up with forward-looking and innovative solutions is the right choice, Wang Honggang added.
The Chinese version appeared in Chinese Social Sciences Today, No.619, July 11, 2014
Edited and translated by Bai Le