Caretakers of Sino-US ties have begun to worry about where this relationship is heading recently. Some even hold that a "tipping point" in the bilateral relations is upon us.

In recent years, Beijing has adopted a series of measures and even laws to stifle Washington's attempt to plant the seeds of a "color revolution" in China. Meanwhile, the US is using its "pivot" to Asia to balance the rise of China and backing up countries which have territorial or maritime disputes with Beijing.

Many Americans begin to consider whether it is time to adjust the US policy toward China from "engagement" to "containment."

As far as I am concerned, these caretakers can debate, argue or quarrel as much as they want over the nature of the bilateral relationship, but it would be foolish for them to turn critical rhetoric into harmful actions.

When Sino-US ties are positive, the world will be at peace. If the US and China begin to make trouble for each other, the world will slide into chaos.

Even George Soros, who has always been viewed by China as a representative of hostile forces, published an article in The New York Review of Books, saying that in order to avoid wars, the US and China need to become partners.

According to Soros, existing international institutions are incapable of stemming the spread of anarchy worldwide. What Russia is doing to Ukraine now has fundamentally upset the international order dominated by the US and the West.

At this turbulent moment, if the US and China decide to confront each other, the entire world will face disaster.

If Beijing gets upset with Washington because the latter decides to sell arms to Taiwan again or takes side in China's ongoing disputes with Japan over the Diaoyu Islands or in the South China Sea disputes, and if Beijing decides not to cooperate with the US on the issue of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Afghanistan reconstruction, or stabilizing Iraq and Syria, the world will immediately become a much more dangerous place.

If the US accelerates its deployment of advanced military assets into the Asia-Pacific region due to China's firm stance over maritime disputes in the East China Sea and South China Sea, it will only lead to an arms race between the two powers. This may slow down economic recovery in the US and drag China's economy into a tailspin.

If the two sides turn down the possibilities of communication, coordination and cooperation on the issues of climate change, energy security, food safety, anti-terrorism, nuclear proliferation, infectious diseases and financial crises, the world will face chaos.

Even worse, if the two countries terminate investment and trade cooperation with each other, they will both stop being the engines of global economic development. Mutual sanctions and constraints would send the entire global economy into a long and endless chilling winter.

Yuan Peng, a scholar at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations once wrote a letter to Nina Hachigian, the current US Ambassador to ASEAN.

In the letter, Yuan said that for China, building a new type of major power relationship with the US means that Beijing makes three promises to Washington: China won't ruin the existing international system through wars; China won't pursue a Cold War with the US and won't challenge US global leadership and its Asia-Pacific presence; and China hopes to find a win-win way to cooperate with the US in addressing global problems and shaping the future world.

In her response, Hachigian said that Washington can also make three pledges to Beijing: The US welcomes and respects a prosperous, successful and rule-abiding China; the US tries to resolve all disagreements with China peacefully and respectfully, through dialogue and according to international rules and norms; and the US welcomes China's peaceful and constructive involvement and leadership in regional and world affairs.

Their ongoing debate aims at making more people cognizant of the importance of Sino-US relations to the stability and development of China and the US, to the peace in the Asia-Pacific region, and to the common destiny for the whole world before Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to the US.

The author is co-director of the Carter Center-Xian Jiaotong University Initiative for International Peace and Development. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn