The 'new type of major-country relationship' Is in need of support
- By Chen Xiangyang
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E-mail China.org.cn, February 25, 2014
Sino-US relations are vulnerable to disruption by “third-party” factors. The United States may easily outsmart itself in dealing with China and be dragged by its Asia-Pacific allies into their own conflicts with China. The risks for the United States to be used by Japan and the Philippines in their confrontation with China, resulting in a Sino-US standoff, are dramatically increasing.
Deeds are more important than words in building a “new-type of major-country relationship” between China and the United States. The two parties should be tolerant of each other, pragmatically proceed with and steadily expand cooperation, effectively manage and control competition, and be on guard against third-party disruptions. They should strive to expand collaboration in the following six areas:
The two powers should upgrade their strategic mutual trust, and explore the establishment of a mutual notice mechanism on occasions of major military operations, as well as a common code of conduct for naval and air safety for the two militaries, increase transparency regarding both parties’ policies and strategic intensions, avoid misjudgments, and prevent unexpected incidents;
China and the US should open up new prospects for economic and trade cooperation, and deepen their common interests, accelerate negotiations for agreements on bilateral investments, and seek points of convergence in the process of both countries’ economic “re-balancing” and transformation;
There should be increased human and cultural exchanges, improved mutual understanding, and increased mutual good feelings;
The two nations need to upgrade their coordination in coping with various regional hotspot issues and global concerns;
There should be a new pattern for benign Sino-US interaction in the Asia-Pacific, and the two powers should explore ways to share the benefits of peace, stability and development in the region, and gradually explore the possibility of a certain degree of “joint governance on the basis of coordination and consultation.” As China resumes its role as a major power in the Asia-Pacific, the United States needs to tread carefully on China’s doorstep and avoid becoming a presumptuous guest.
Both nations should avoid fomenting discord among third parties, and compare notes in a timely manner, so that the two do not fall prey to third-party ploys. The United States needs to give more consideration to the big picture of Sino-US relations, and apply control over its allies’ provocative stunts and outrages. China and the United States should jointly contain the right-turning Japan, which is seeking to overturn World War II history. The United States should not connive with, appease, or be numb to the rightist Shinzo Abe. Conniving with Japan will bring disaster to the United States. A United States eager to contain China with a defiant Japan will find it self-defeating in the end. It will become a tool in the hands of Japanese rightists and lose more than it gains.
The building of a “new-type of major-country relationship” between China and United States will be more difficult in deeds than in rhetoric. Rather than indulging in blind optimism, both parties should make earnest efforts to match rhetoric with deeds.
Chen Xiangyang, Research fellow, deputy director of Institute of World Political Studies of China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations
This article was first published at Chinausfocus.com To see the original version please visit: http://www.chinausfocus.com/foreign-policy/the-new-type-of-major-country-relationship-is-in-need-of-support/
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