Sense and sensibility of Kerry’s visit to China
- By Su Xiaohui
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E-mail China.org.cn, February 18, 2014
However, according to the information released by both China and the US, it seemed that Secretary Kerry failed in forcing China to make concessions.
It was not a surprising outcome. China’s new leadership has claimed that the country will persist in peaceful development, but will not at the cost of national interests of sovereignty, security and development. It is unlikely that China will easily make compromise on the issues concerning territorial disputes.
From the US perspective, John Kerry’s visit has much broader aims than pressuring on China. The key of the US plan was to settle down concrete designs for a new type of relationship with China.
China and the US have stuck to the agreements reached by President Xi and President Obama during their meetings at Sunnylands California last year. Up to now, neither of the two countries changed this goal. In order to carry out the new type of relationship, high-level communication was necessary. Recently, China-US relationship was faced with some problems. In this regard, John Kerry’s trip aimed at playing a positive role in improving the ties rather than arousing more trouble.
Specifically, John Kerry’s visit this time was constructive for easing regional tension. Both countries got a better understanding of each other’s bottom lines. The US has realized that China has a strong claim, a claim based on history and fact. China is reluctant to make unilateral concession since some of the related parties continue to make provocations. China is also alert of the multilateral trend of the disputes and the intervention of other countries. At the same time, China is aware that the US supports regional stability and is unlikely to approve China’s using of force to resolve disputes. China has also understood that the US attaches great importance to its security interests and its appeals for freedom of actions in Asia-Pacific. Accordingly, China will encounter strong opposition from the US side about setting up ADIZ in the South China Sea. The comprehension of the bottom lines will help the two sides avoid unnecessary misunderstanding and the risk of conflict in the region.
Secretary Kerry’s visit also revealed some problems for the two sides to deal with in the future. The US tried to utilize international law and international orders to regulate China’s behaviors. However, China believes that the international laws especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) which was adopted in 1980s cannot change territorial sovereignty that was clear in history. At the same time, China is cautious about the potential of further internationalization of the South China Sea issue.
After Kerry’s visit, President Obama will not include China as one of the stops in his next Asian tour. However, China and the US will mostly likely keep in the right track to develop bilateral ties. The key is that both sides are willing to work towards a new type of relationship and avoid the interruption of a third party or individual problems to ruin the growing cooperative relationship.
Su Xiaohui, Deputy Director, Department of International and Strategic Studies, China Institute of International Studies.
This article was first published at Chinausfocus.com To see the original version please visit http://www.chinausfocus.com/foreign-policy/sense-and-sensibility-of-john-kerrys-visit-to-china/
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