ASEAN a neutral platform for all powers

Deepening strategic trust must be the top objective of the summit between President Xi Jinping and US President Barrack Obama this week. Sino-US relations have reached a critical point because of the high level of cynicism, which means the world's two largest economies have to properly manage their cooperation and competition.

In today's globalized world of growing economic interdependence, common endeavors are needed to promote sustainable growth. No economy can survive, let alone prosper, on its own. The recent stock market crisis in China once again showed the level of global economic integration is far deeper than economists have anticipated, especially the psychological factor that has now come into play with not-so-good financial consequences.

Therefore, China and the US cannot afford to have continuous misperceptions about each other's intentions, imagined or real. Given their economic standings and political clouts, China and the US yield extraordinary power and influence that can make or break international norms and practices.