What is the future of Sino-US relations?
- Source: Global Times
- [18:19 November 12 2009]
- Comments
Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) meets his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama in New York, the United States, Sept. 22, 2009. (Xinhua Photo)
Editor's Notes
November 15 will be US President Barack Obama's first visit to China after he took office on January 20. Joseph Nye, former dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, David Shambaugh, director of China Policy Program at the Elliott School of International Affairs, and Wang Jisi, dean of the School of International Relations at Peking University were invited by the Global Times (GT) to talk about present Sino-US ties and its future.
GT: In September, James Steinberg, US Deputy Secretary of State, raised the concept of "strategic reassurance" in his speech in which he outlined several areas where China needs to clarify its intentions. What kind of signal do you think the US is sending to China?
Wang: The US has been very concerned about the security issue between China and the US and is not satisfied with the bilateral military exchange and progress in aspects such as nuclear disarmament, offshore security, outer space and the legal status of special economic zones. The discrepancies between the two countries in understanding these topics will give rise to big problems if no crisis management mechanism is set up. This is the background of the concept.
Personally speaking, it reflects what the US expects for bilateral ties. China needs to know about the US' worries are behind this concept but does not necessarily give a positive or negative response to it. Every concept raised by the US can be interpreted from different perspectives. Sometimes these can be overly analyzed by the Chinese side leading to misintepretations. However, tackling bilateral ties is not about interpretations, but a down-to-earth attitude and a long-term positioning. Knowing the big picture of this message and focusing on the work are enough.
Nye: I think what James Steinberg was trying to do was to indicate to the government in Beijing that we seek a cooperative relationship which we can both profit, both gain, and we can have a win-win relationship. There are some people in Washington and some people in Beijing who say the contradiction between the US and China is inevitable, and therefore this is a zero sum game -- one side wins, the other side loses it. I think what Steinberg was saying is that the American government doesn't say it in this way, but since it's a relationship both of us manage well, we can both be the winners.
Shambaugh: The new words "strategic reassurance" gained a lot of attention and doubts. Some believe it has something to do with the two parties' interaction in politics and economy. For me, it is the military areas they reassure each other. Although the overall relations are in good shape, the military tie is in the cycle of on and off. It should be on the same level with the overall situation. Therefore, they wish to gain reassurance from each other in the military area.
Not long ago, China's top military officers visited the US and made some requests. For the US part, the assurance they hope to get is to see missiles removed from the coastal areas in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces. They are quite confused by China's two-digit growth of the military expenses and the deployment of missiles in coastal areas.
