Summit in California spurs hopes for better ties

The recent summit between President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden captured the world's attention.

While the meeting, which took place in California on Nov 15, ended with the two countries still apart on a host of issues, it was nevertheless a positive sign that the two leaders agreed to resume communication and reestablish military consultation channels to reduce tensions.

The key will be to see how well the channels of communication that they have established, including direct communication between the leaders, work.

From Beijing's perspective, the dialogue prevented Washington from shifting its position to a more hard-line stance on the Taiwan question. The United States, for its part, gained some reassurance that China will not take major military action in the South China Sea in the near future.

Since the Bali summit in 2022, relations between the two countries have been on a downward spiral.

Meeting face-to-face for the first time in a year, the two leaders focused on creating a cordial atmosphere, clarified their disagreements on key issues and struck a conciliatory tone, reassuring other countries, especially China's neighbors.

Sometimes it is enough to shake hands and sit across from each other. In the context of the recent US-China strategic competition, which has been characterized by conflict and mutual checks and balances, it is important to note the symbolic significance of stabilizing the relations.

The two leaders' agreement to restore military communications signaled a de-escalation of tensions in their relationship at a time of global chaos. It was a rare show of cooperation between two of the world's most powerful nations, which have been at odds over issues such as trade, cybersecurity, maritime security and human rights.

In addition, the restoration of military communication channels and the agreement to cooperate in the fight against drugs such as fentanyl can be seen as major achievements. It is true, however, that there were significant disagreements between the two sides on defining the relationship between the two countries.

President Biden said the US and China are in competition. He reiterated that the world expects the US and China to manage the competition responsibly to prevent it from veering into conflict, confrontation or a new Cold War. This is an acknowledgment of the US seeing China as a rival.

Meanwhile, President Xi said China has no plan to surpass or unseat the US. He also said that the US should take real actions to honor its commitment of not supporting "Taiwan independence", stop arming Taiwan, and support China's peaceful reunification. In some ways, the talks avoided pushing the relationship to its lowest point in the first place.

In this way, the two countries have given a long-awaited, warm welcome to the world through the US-China summit.

The outcome of the summit, meanwhile, will have a great impact on my own country, the Republic of Korea.

Seoul's diplomatic strategy, which focuses on ROK-US-Japan diplomacy, needs a complete overhaul. The South Korean diplomatic authorities must realize that the ROK-China-Japan relationship is as important as the ROK-US-Japan relationship.

I hope that the latest US-China summit will lead to an ROK-China summit and bring some long-awaited warmth to the strained Sino-ROK ties.

The author is chairman of the Korea-China Exchange Promotion Committee.