Sino-US ties in focus as Obama wins 2nd term

In an open letter to the president on Thursday, Kenneth Lieberthal, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a China specialist, suggested that Obama could improve relations with China during his second term by amending the rebalancing strategy.

According to Lieberthal, the strategy is generating dynamics that increasingly threaten to undermine its primary goals.

"It is therefore time to rebalance judiciously the rebalancing strategy, and China's leadership change provides you with an opportunity to do so," Lieberthal said.

Lieberthal believes the relationship has gone in the wrong direction and distrust has grown since the pivot to Asia started less than two years ago.

In his policy recommendation to Obama, Lieberthal said that nobody in Asia wants to have to take sides between the US and China. "All seek 'wise management' of US-China relations. An initiative that improves US-China relations and contributes to regional stability can, therefore, potentially enhance the US position throughout Asia," he said.

Lieberthal and Wang Jisi, a professor of international studies at Peking University, co-authored a paper last year on reducing the strategic distrust between the two countries.

That would "improve the potential for a long-term normal major power relationship between the US and China, rather than an adversarial relationship that might otherwise develop."

Donald Gross, a senior associate at the Pacific Forum Center for Strategic and International Studies suggested that Obama should seize the opportunity created by the emergence of China's new leadership to stabilize relations by pursuing a diplomatic strategy that, among other things, significantly expands trade.

He said the US should keep in mind the profound words of former national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski.

"If the US and China can accommodate each other on a broad range of issues, the prospects for stability in Asia will be greatly increased ... the US must recognize that stability in Asia can no longer be imposed by ... the direct application of US military power. Indeed, US efforts to buttress Asian stability could prove self-defeating, propelling Washington into a costly repeat of its recent wars, potentially even resulting in a replay of the tragic events of Europe in the 20th century."