Forging sounder Sino-US ties
Yuan PengChina Daily  Updated: 2005-01-06 06:38

A landmark event in Sino-US relations, former US president Richard Nixon's historic visit to China set in motion the normalization of bilateral ties for the first time in history.

Over the ensuing 30 years, the two countries achieved much to advance those links, but also left some thorny problems unresolved.

From Nixon's China visit in 1972 until 1979 when Beijing and Washington diplomatically recognized each other, the one-time adversaries made concerted efforts and achieved key breakthroughs on how to address the former Soviet Union, solve the Taiwan question, and realize normalization of bilateral political ties.

With these consensus, China and the United States advanced their scope of co-operation.

In this process, political ties between the two have remained basically stable.

The establishment of bilateral political relations laid the foundations for realizing the transition of friendship between the leaders and the strategic consensus they reached, to the opening of effective channels of communication.

Over the past 30 years, the two nations have set up numerous communication systems and channels, including regular meetings between heads, hot lines, economic and trade co-operation, and co-operation on anti-terror tactics, the pending 2008 Olympics, intelligence and crisis handling.

Under such circumstances, it is difficult for any single problem to reverse the overall positive tide of Sino-US relations.

Bilateral economic and trade ties, meanwhile, have remained normal.

The offer by the US of agreeing permanent normal trade relations status to China in 2000 and China's successful accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001 both indicate that non-economic elements, which had long plagued Sino-US economic and trade ties, were in essence removed.

Politicization of economic issues between the two is much less marked compared with the years before 2000.

Recent upgrading of a joint economic and trade committee between the two countries to the vice-premier level also demonstrates the willingness of both to solve trade disputes through normal channels.

And the once touchy human rights issue between the two has gradually paled.

China's enormous economic achievements and its strengthened aspiration to protect private property and implement the "people first" doctrine have already made American mainstream political and academic circles look upon the rise of China in a more favourable and rational way. At the same times, groundless ideological attacks against China have also been on the wane in the United States.

The two countries have also been more rational in strategically orientating the other.

The past 30 years have also freed them from the tags of "strategic partner" or "strategic competitor," depending on the circumstance, and been replaced by the pragmatic and practicable idea of establishing "constructive co-operative relations."

More importantly, the two countries have gradually realized that bilateral ties are too complicated to define in a simple word and they need to not only co-operate on issues of common concern, but also acknowledge their divergences.

With substantial co-operation on the anti-terror front and the settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, Sino-US relations are currently entering an advanced stage.

Strategic contradictions have yet to be resolved in bilateral ties, although non-strategic issues have been settled.

This means structural conflicts between the two countries still exist, which will in turn affect long-term and stable Sino-US relations.

There are three issues which, if not properly handled, will pose insurmountable obstacles to the smooth advancement of Sino-US relations.

First, compared to other areas, there remains a lack of mutual trust in the military and security fields.

The experience of the past 30 years, indicative of the deepening of bilateral economic and trade ties, does not inevitably lead to the simultaneous development of mutual strategic trust. And development of political ties does not inevitably advance military ties, neither does anti-terror co-operation inevitably result in military co-operation.

In comparison with their warm economic and political ties, Sino-US military links appear markedly cool.

No key US defence department figure has visited China. Furthermore, Washington has not only maintained its own arms embargo against Beijing, but also applied pressure on Israel and the European Union to do likewise. It has occasionally upgrading its military ties with Taiwan and strengthened its military presence in China's surrounding areas using the anti-terror fight as an excuse. Washington has never hidden its intentions to shift its strategic focus eastward, redeploy its global military forces and upgrade its alliances with Japan.

These stances and moves, more or less demonstrate Washington's strategic consideration.

Second, strategic competition issues between the two in the Asia-Pacific region is outstanding and needs to be resolved.

The United States has always regarded the Eurasian landmass and the western Pacific as the core of its global strategy.

Within the framework of the Shanghai Co-operation Organization (SCO), the summit between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China, Japan and the Republic of Korea , the summit between ASEAN and China, the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation, and the six-party talks on the Korean nuclear issue, China is forging increasingly successful co-operation with neighbouring countries.

But in the eyes of the United States, these demonstrate China - with its enormous market and alluring economic prospects - is building an economic and security network capable of competing with the political, economic and security frameworks it has itself built in the region.

Third, there remains a deep strategic misunderstanding between China and the United States on the Taiwan question.

Although they achieved a breakthrough on the issue while deciding to set up diplomatic ties, the two countries failed to solve their fundamental disputes regarding the Taiwan question.

On the one hand, the United States affirmed its intention to adhere to the one-China policy and base its ties with China on the Three Joint Communiques between them, yet, on the other hand it passed the Taiwan Relations Act which binds Washington to selling sophisticated weaponry to Taiwan and maintaining military ties with the island.

Currently, Beijing and Washington are on common ground in opposing Taiwan independence, but strategic disputes and mishandling of the issue could trigger a new crisis.

To pursue a stable and healthy Sino-US relationship and achieve more substantial progress, the two countries need to reach a new consensus on some key issues.

To this end they should set up a new framework on the Taiwan question, one in which Washington should re-evaluate its policy on Taiwan and draw a line under its arms sales to Taiwan.

They should strengthen strategic communications and enhance mutual trust through a series of established multilateral mechanisms in an effort to peacefully co-exist in the Asia-Pacific region. 

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