A new test for bilateral ties

But China and the US share many common interests, too. As two significant powers, the two have overlapping interests in resolving a series of bilateral and multilateral issues, as evidenced by the 30-plus years of bilateral relations. Take bilateral trade for example, Sino-US trade volume was only $2.4 billion when diplomatic ties were established in 1979. It increased to $385.3 billion last year, even though the two countries have not stopped quarreling in recent years over the gaping trade surplus in favor of China. In the first four months of this year, bilateral trade grew 24.8 percent year-on-year. China and the US are now the second largest trade partners in the world and the tangible benefits they have harvested from bilateral trade reflect their growing interdependence.

In the era of globalization, countries have to make joint efforts to overcome global challenges. As two big countries with common global responsibilities, China and the US should work more closely to make greater contributions to world peace, security and development. Sino-US cooperation aimed at helping the international community overcome the global financial crisis should become an example of bilateral cooperation for the rest of the world.

New situations created across the world by profound changes in international relations demand that China and the US develop ties with a new mindset.

With the rapid development of China, some considerable changes have occurred in power comparisons between Beijing and Washington, which are a new test for Sino-US relations. The US should abandon its Cold War mentality and hegemonic handling of relations with other countries. It should no longer consider China's rise as a threat to its self-proclaimed world leadership, a concept that has long distorted Washington's perception of Beijing and become a big obstacle to building strategic mutual trust with China.

Since Sino-US ties are one of the most important in the world, their importance is far beyond the bilateral scope. The way the US perceives China - whether as a strategic partner or rival and whether it pursues economic cooperation or vicious competition with China - will not only be closely related to the fundamental interests of the two countries and their people, but also will directly affect the security and welfare of the Asia-Pacific region as a whole.

Facts prove that China and the US can break the traditional cycle of confrontation between two big powers if they establish a cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual benefit and develop their ties into a new type of power-to-power relationship beyond systematic and ideological differences.

The author is former president of China Institute of International Studies.

(China Daily 08/20/2011 page5)