Bush leaves positive legacy for Sino-US ties

Since US President George W. Bush ends his tenure in the Oval Office in a few days, it is necessary to review of the diplomatic legacy he leaves behind for Sino-US relations.

Shortly after the Republican Bush was sworn in, China and the United States confronted each other over one of the severest challenges posed by the collision of a Chinese jet plane with an intruding US spy aircraft over the South China Sea in April 2001. With cool-headedness and reason, the two countries managed to keep the event's impact on bilateral ties to a minimum. Relations have since gained a steady momentum, with common grounds having been continuously consolidated.

Both governments labeled the bilateral ties as constructive and cooperative as early as in 2001, dispelling people's misgivings that the two are strategic competitors. In a speech in September 2005, then deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick held that China and the US should be stakeholders in global affairs. US Secretary of State Rice Condoleezza Rice also highlighted Beijing's global partnership status on many occasions.