US' actions are steadily eroding bilateral trust

When Tung Chee-hwa, vice-chairman of China's top political advisory body and former Hong Kong chief executive, expressed his concerns on the current state of China-US relations on an international law forum in Hong Kong last month, he was not raising false alarms.

Citing the obvious tensions between Beijing and Washington on the South China Sea, Tung warned the issue, if not handled carefully, will affect China-US relations. A China-US relations expert himself, Tung spoke the minds of many people who wish the world's most important pair of nation-to-nation ties to maintain a healthy momentum.

For China's part, it still hopes to build a new type of major-country relationship with the United States. The center piece of that relationship is based on the Chinese leadership's new vision of international relations, which does not buy into the destined historical model that an emerging power and an established power are bound to clash.