China-US dialogue displays shared will to work together

The Korean Peninsula, the South China Sea, terrorism, military-to-military cooperation ... the list goes on.

Any of such topics of bilateral, regional and global concern raised at the table of the maiden China-US Diplomatic and Security Dialogue could have consumed the daylong session. Especially, the Korean Peninsula issue, as the tragic death of Otto Warmbier added fuel to public outrage at the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, raising concerns the dialogue might get mired in who is to do what next.

Such worries proved unfounded, however. And the opening installment of the brand-new mechanism of China-US engagement was successful, sustaining the constructive atmosphere from the summit between President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in early April, and adding optimism to the three other components - economic, law enforcement and cybersecurity, and social and culture - of the China-US Comprehensive Dialogue.