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

Chinese pundits also placed high hopes on Obama's second term. Jia Xiudong, a senior researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, believes a lot of issues between China and the US were exaggerated during the presidential election.

"This year should be a good opportunity to improve the relationship," Jia said.

He also hopes the US lifts exports controls on China and respects China's core interests.

US arms sales to Taiwan and US presidents meeting the Dalai Lama have increasingly triggered outrage in China.

Despite differences, Brzezinski believes that China and the US have managed their differences well.

"My sense is that at least those who shape policies in both countries now realize there is a kind of de facto partnership between China and America," he said.

"That is not a bad conclusion to reach in a very complicated relationship between two countries as different as one can imagine," Brzezinski told Fareed Zakaria on CNN.

Bader believes there is optimism for a smooth relationship from China's new leadership.

He recalled a meeting between him, former secretary of state Madeline Albright, and former president Jiang Zemin in 1997, in which Jiang said that when he first became general secretary, Deng Xiaoping had told him, "you are responsible for China-US relations''.

Deng and Jiang clearly viewed the relationship as one of the essential responsibilities of the leader of the party, Bader said. He said President Hu Jintao also took responsibility for the relationship.

"I expect nothing less from Xi," said Bader.

Obama's nomination of two key cabinet members, John Kerry as secretary of state and Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense are positive developments, analysts believe. Both have supported greater cooperation .

"The simple fact is that we need China, and China needs us,'' said Kerry, who is widely expected to be approved in a Senate hearing on Friday.

"We have to get this relationship right. After all, we are talking about our connection to one-sixth of humanity. The most serious problems we face today, from nuclear proliferation to climate change, can't be solved alone. And, economically, our futures are deeply intertwined and will remain so."

Kerry also criticized the tendency to demonize China and to consider it the next great threat. This viewpoint is not based on reality, he said.

Hagel chairs the Atlantic Council and it issued a recent report saying that US strategy to 2030 must deepen cooperation with China.

The report suggested that the US strategy should accommodate legitimate, essential Chinese interests just as China will need to make reciprocal adjustments in regard to US essential interests.

Cheng Guangjin and Pu Zhendong contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at chenweihua@chinadaily.com.cn

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