Illustration: Liu Rui
When former US President Richard Nixon embarked on his historic trip to Beijing 40 years ago, he could not have imagined how Sino-US relations would develop. At the time, both China and the US started taking steps to woo each other. Between 1949, when the People's Republic of China was established, and 1971, one year before Nixon's visit to China, the relationship between the two countries was strategically confrontational and diplomatically separated.
Nixon's visit can be viewed as a strategic move despite the two countries' ideological differences, as Nixon was struggling with a deeply unpopular Vietnam War and trying to put the Soviet Union on the defensive, while China was also looking for new ways to balance the Soviets.
When it came to the 1980s, a time when the power of the Soviet Union was crippled, China and the US didn't share common strategic interests of dealing with the Soviet Union. The relationship between China and the Soviet Union was not as divided as before.
To balance world powers and maintain global peace, China insisted on an independent diplomacy and a non-alliance policy. Meanwhile, thanks to the reform and opening-up policy promoted by then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in the early 1980s, China and the US cooperated in fields like diplomacy, culture and education.
After the Soviet Union collapsed, a new world pattern was taking shape. China not only had to find itself a place in the newly formed pattern of global politics, but also faced various domestic problems.
Deng then suggested adopting a low profile diplomatic strategy which helped China deal with both domestic and external affairs.
At that time, US interference in Taiwan became the biggest obstacle that narrowed the options for both sides. China stated clearly that it wouldn't confront with the US, but it firmly opposed to US interference with China's internal affairs.
In the 21st century, China has been developing at unprecedented speed. China's rise as a global economic power added tension to the Sino-US relationship. However, the more globalized the whole world is, the more mutually dependent China and the US become. Therefore, we can see cooperation, coordination, as well as confrontation and contradiction deeply rooted in the two sides' relationship.
Today the biggest obstacle to the Sino-US relations is that the US doesn't allow China the strategic space to which China, as a rising global power, should be entitled. This can be seen in the US attitude toward the South China Sea and its arms sales to Taiwan. Admittedly, China has to bear some of the blame in its relations with the US too. For example, China could do more to tackle imbalanced trade.
The US recently proclaimed its high-profile return to the Asia-Pacific region. Some people think that China's peaceful development period and the strategic opportunities it offered are coming to an end.
But, in the international arena, particularly in East Asia, there is still great strategic maneuverability and buffer space for China.
China should dare to respond in kind to US moves. In the past, China has sometimes shown a weak stance in the face of the US when it comes to international affairs. China doesn't need to blindly follow what the US does, but should seek chances to pursue its own interests.
But China should also look closely at itself. The US formed its strategy by winning the support of China's neighbors. We have to admit that the climate surrounding China's neighboring countries has not been great in the past few years. Only by nurturing good relationships with them can China compete with the US in diplomatic influence.
The article was compiled by Global Times reporter Wang Wenwen based on an interview with Shi Yinhong, a professor at School of International Studies at Renmin University of China. wangwenwen@globaltimes.com.cn