Xi-Trump Summit – Cooperation always trumps confrontation!
- By Earl Bousquet
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E-mail China.org.cn, November 7, 2017
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U.S. President Donald Trump [Xinhua] |
The presidents of China and the United States will meet between November 8 and 10 for a three-day summit that will be closely watched by the rest of the world.
Significantly, it's the first visit by a foreign leader since last month's 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and the two sides have been working hard to ensure the second extended parley this year will be highly fruitful.
Ahead of his China visit, Trump stopped just short of deifying his waiting host, congratulating him in fulsome terms on his re-election as CPC General Secretary for another five years.
However, never mind the platitudinous pleasantries, the leaders of the world’s two biggest economic and military powers will definitely be more than just clinking glasses and sharing Chinese cookies during their round of ceremonial pomp and hard talking.
Interestingly, apart from all the formalities, there will also be "informal interactions" arranged between host and visitor – during which the former can inform his guest that the just-released most comprehensive official U.S. government report on Climate Change since 2013 has proven, yet again and beyond any meaningful doubt, that the dangerous phenomena is a universal product, not one "Made in China."
What will be uppermost on the two leaders' minds will be key issues related to bilateral trade and economic ties, while working together to seek solutions to the world's most challenging economic and social problems.
President Xi may encourage his honored guest to temper his usually flammable rhetoric on Korean Peninsula issues, to be more sensitive to the territorial peculiarities involved and to understand the mental state of mind of the millions of affected people – including hundreds of thousands of American troops (and their families) living in zones of fear of possible oblivion.
The guest can be encouraged too, to understand that ratcheting-up Korean tensions by the major players through military manoeuvers and missile tests doesn't serve either side’s stated desire for regional peace and security.
Certainly, the Moon administration in Seoul shows clear signs of unwillingness to opt for any military solution. Seoul has also offered three very notable assurances: no more U.S. THAAD missiles (than the only battery now on its soil), no involvement in any joint regional military alliance and not joining the U.S. and Japan to attack North Korea.
President Trump has long labored under the illusion that China can wave a magic wand to "restrain North Korea." But China remains in strict compliance with UN sanctions on the DPRK, while continuing to insist that the U.S. and its allies respect Seoul’s preferred peaceful option.
China's next five years on the road to a more secure and prosperous future under Socialism with Chinese Characteristics requires creation now – more than ever – of guaranteed mechanisms for successful implementation of its vital role internationally.
In the present context of a more inward-looking U.S. and a more outward-reaching China, Beijing must also more carefully weigh China's regional options in a global context.
China’s deep integration with the world's economy and its increasing political and diplomatic leverage as an established serious and flexible global player actually will enhance Sino-U.S. ties.
The summit will offer the two leaders several opportunities for strategic communication on significant issues of common concern and to build new consensus, as well as to enhance mutual understanding and friendship and promote bilateral relations in all spheres.
However, solving the China-U.S. trade imbalance will require increasing American exports to China and increasing two-way investment, rather than on the U.S. trying to restrict imports from China.
The complementarity of trade between the two countries is such that a trade war would harm both, while the potential for cooperation is so absolutely great. They share common interests and likewise shoulder common mutual responsibilities, especially in safeguarding and preserving world peace and stability and promoting global development and prosperity.
China is ready to work with the U.S., on the basis of mutual respect, to pursue mutual benefit, focus on cooperation and properly manage their differences.
Getting his guest to grasp all the above during a 72-hour visit will require all of President Xi's considerable persuasive powers.
And, while much more can be done, important mechanisms for China-U.S. cooperation at bilateral and global levels already exist and only need to be activated with more defined continuity to ease the possibilities of confrontation.
Earl Bousquet is a contributor to china.org.cn, editor-at-large of The Diplomatic Courier and author of an online regional newspaper column entitled Chronicles of a Chronic Caribbean Chronicler.
Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
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