Both China and the United States are complicated, big countries in which historical influences and current reality are constantly changing. Instead of simply judging each other's intentions, they should take the initiative towards mutual cognition and maintain the vitality and stability of bilateral relations.

A senior American scholar once asked me: what aspects of the United States make the Chinese people feel unhappy or dislike? I did a small survey and got rich feedback. The United States' achievements and Americans' merits are widely appreciated, but there is general unhappiness about perceived American prejudice against China; people also have reservations about U.S. foreign policy, and think the administration should take more responsibility for maintaining world peace and promoting development.

The Chinese people's appreciation of the United States is mainly directed at the way the country developed, but there is unhappiness at the "structural contradictions" that have emerged between us.

The most prominent manifestation of this is American prejudice towards and negation of China's political system. For many Americans, China focuses on collective interests and lacks of democracy and human rights. For many Chinese, Americans cling to their own values and want to export them, so other countries must be vigilant.

This kind of simplified and model-oriented cognition inevitably affects views on many issues. The so-called China-U.S. "mutual strategic suspicion" originated from this to some degree.

The new factor in structural contradiction emerges from American overreaction to China's rise in importance and suspicion of its strategic intention. It worries about China's challenge to an American leading role in rules and orders.

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