The value of bold diplomacy is fully demonstrated when profound changes happen in the international order. The meeting between US President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro over the weekend has been a highlight in the Summit of the Americas in Panama City. Although Washington-Havana ties still face uncertainties, this kind of bold diplomacy can surely bring helpful inspirations to other powers, including China.

Every country has its own great taboos in handling foreign relations. Stephen Walt, professor at Harvard University, and John Mearsheimer, professor at the University of Chicago noted in their book The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy that the pro-Israel lobby in the US had exerted excessive and detrimental control over the US foreign policy.

Iran, Cuba and North Korea have long been great taboos in US foreign policy that even small changes will trigger a storm of controversy.

However, the Obama administration is striving to sort out the great taboos by establishing and employing various back channels. Yet Washington remains indifferent to North Korea while applying bold diplomacy to Iran and Cuba. Its strategic ignorance of Pyongyang rests on a false assumption that North Korea is more of a problem for China than for the US.

But the US has made a smart step by choosing to defrost its ties with Cuba. Over the past more than 20 years, international society has continuously condemned Washington for the economic sanctions imposed on Cuba and only Israel stood with the US. The sanctions have brought not only a loss of $1.126 trillion to Cuba but also more isolation and embarrassment to the US.

Besides, as Richard Feinberg at the Brookings Institution put it, enmity with Cuba also makes the US a "besieged minority" in America so that it can hardly gain the true respect for the US leadership from countries in the region. Even the US faithful allies like Panama and Colombia have begun to oppose the rigid US policy on Cuba, as have Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil.

More importantly, Cuban Americans in Florida have begun to exhibit a generational shift in their attitude toward Havana, with an increasing number supporting easing the sanctions against Cuba. US leaders need to listen to the people's voice in this critical swing state. A recent Pew Research Poll found that 63 percent of Americans support restoring the US diplomatic ties with Cuba.

Therefore, the primary condition for bold diplomacy is to be realistic and make decisions based on harsh realities rather than wishful thinking. All kinds of back channels also need to be fully employed.

In US-Cuba negotiations the Vatican and Canada are important brokers.

As over 60 percent of Cuban population are Catholics, Pope Francis has played a particular role in brokering the engagement of the US and Cuba. Born in Argentina, he is the first Latin American ever to lead the Roman Catholic Church and stated in multiple occasions after becoming pope that he was committed to the US-Cuba reconciliation. Canada is one of the few countries in America that didn't sever their ties with Cuba. Moreover, the most crucial factor of bold diplomacy is engagement, an ability to constantly deepen the understanding of your rival. In this regard Washington has a diplomatic advantage - the utilization of non-governmental organizations.

The Miami Beach-based Roots of Hope was established in 2002 and has over 9,000 staff, most of whom are Cuban American college students and young professionals. It is committed to building up people-to-people connections with Cuba through means like providing smart phones to young Cubans and organizing concerts.

Many organizations like the Roots of Hope have provided firsthand information for the decision-making of the US National Security Council and also useful ideas that other government agencies can hardly come up with.

Beijing has to make attempts to address the great taboos in its foreign policy, if it wants to demonstrate the diplomacy as a global power. China can learn much from the thaw in US-Cuba ties and there is every reason to expect bold diplomatic moves.

The author is a research fellow with the Charhar Institute and an adjunct fellow with the Center for International and Strategic Studies, Peking University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn