Negotiations and Inclusiveness Should Be the Common Choice of Both China and the United States

Negotiations and Inclusiveness Should Be the Common Choice of Both China and the United States

By Yu Hongjun

CPAPD Vice President, Former Vice Minister of IDCPC

The international community is always the unity of opposites full of differences and disputes, and filled with frictions and conflicts. Human history, in the final analysis, is a complex process heading to the future in the unity of opposites. As the main contradiction and outstanding problem in international affairs, the relationship between powers, especially the relationship between major powers will greatly affect and restrict the occurrence and development of other various contradictions in the world, and to a large extent determine the ups and downs of international relations and the changing direction of the world strategic architecture.

Today’s world is at the beginning of a new round of Centennial process, facing great changes unseen in a century. The multiplicity, acuteness and complexity of contradictions make us dizzying. On the surface, this is an inevitable response to the great development, change and adjustment of human society. In essence, it is a prominent manifestation of the concentrated outbreak of various contradictions and conflicts in international relations. The current dramatic changes in China-U.S. relations involve not only bilateral affairs such as politics, economy and trade, finance, investment, humanities, culture and security, but also a wide range of regional and global issues, which affect the reconstruction of the international order and the reform of the global governance system.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States. Over the past 40 years, the relations between the two countries are complicated, with constant conflicts, and sometimes even overall tensions and deep crises emerge. However, from a comprehensive, synthetic and developmental perspectives, as the world pattern and strength balance continue to change in favor of China, China-U.S. relations as a whole have entered a good track of deep integration of interests development, extremely active cultural exchanges, closely intertwined security concerns, and changing strategic pursuit of both sides. China and the United States have shaped a sustainable state in which competition and cooperation complement each other and bring out the best from each other.

Over the past 40 years, since China has always adhered to the principled position of opposing power politics and seeking equal cooperation, the main theme and general trend of the development of China-U.S. relations have basically remained unchanged. The two sides not only compete fiercely and seek cooperation, but also take precautions against each other and take advantage of each other, forming a major power relationship different from any power relationship in history, especially different from the super power relationship paradigm featured by the comprehensive confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States in the Cold War. This new type of major power relationship with benign interaction and rational operation provides a rare opportunity for the peaceful development of both sides, and even the regions and the world at large.

Since the beginning of the new century, emerging economies have grown up collectively. As the second largest economy in the world, China has a rapid and strong momentum towards the center of the world stage, and the transfer of the world power center to the East is emerging. Because of the intertwined internal and external problems, the United States is no longer able to handle international affairs as it used to be, so its hegemonic position is impacted, and in the whole society strategic anxiety emerges. In this context, having held high the populist banner of "making America great again", Trump after taking office, imposes a comprehensive impact on the existing world order and the norms of international relations. Because China's social system, value system and development path are different from that of the United States, but its international influence, appeal, coordination and mobilization are increasing day by day, China is naturally regarded as the biggest opponent in strategic competition by the Trump Administration with strong conservative color, and the main object of the new round of strategic game-play launched by the United States across the world.

In March last year, the Trump Administration launched a trade war with China, then used non-economic means to hit ZTE, a Chinese company that relies heavily on the U.S. technically, and then made a big attack on Huawei under the table, a Chinese company with global influence, and spared no effort to build an international united front to block Huawei's technology. In the face of the emerging and rapidly escalating "new Cold War" directed at China, the Chinese side has shown a highly mature diplomatic determination and strategic patience, and insists on defining the "trade war" described in the international community as trade frictions, actively and steadily conducting dialogue and consultation with the United States, and strives to solve various problems in the economic and trade relations between the two countries through negotiation. However, the U.S.-demanded price is abnormally high, which extends economic and trade disputes to the fields of science and technology and cultural exchanges, and even to regional security, especially in sensitive areas involving China's core interests such as Taiwan and the South China Sea. The danger of China-U.S. relations breaking away from normalcy is not alleviated, but on the contrary has become more and more serious.

It is not hard to see that it is because of Trump's own "Twitter"-led orientation that not only the two major political Republican and Democrat parties, but also the business community and mainstream media in the United States increasingly view China as the biggest threat to the U.S. "world leadership". In a phone call with former President Carter, Trump said frankly that he was very worried that China may lead the United States. This suspicious sense of "worries" and this ironic "fear of China" mentality have become the ideological basis of the current U.S. Administration's China policy and Trump's behavior guide in dealing with China.

Not long ago, a group of conservatives who had no understanding of and were unfriendly to China set up a so-called committee on response to emergent threat,an Anti-China Club as the American media called it. To a certain extent, this confirms the conclusion of some Americans that the "Sino-U.S. relations cannot go back to the past". An extremely important meeting of the Pan-American Bank was agreed to be held in Chengdu, China, and the Chinese side made great efforts to this end. However, due to the serious differences between China and the United States on the qualification of Venezuela's representation, the meeting is cancelled right before schedule. This shows that the contradictions and disputes between China and the United States have had a negative impact on major international affairs. This is a serious reality clear to both sides and the international community.

After nine rounds of intense trade negotiations between China and the United States, not much has been settled. No matter how many so-called positive signals the United States releases, whether the two countries can finally sign new documents to guide the development of future relations remains uncertain. It is particularly noteworthy that the current economic and trade disputes between China and the United States have not been resolved. While Trump has clearly proposed that China, the United States and Russia should start negotiations on reducing military spending. This means that the issue of arms control is likely to become a new area for the Sino-U.S. game-play, and China may encounter new and greater pressure. We must not take lightly the twists and turns, complexity and variability of the future development of China-U.S. relations.

In the face of the current "quasi crisis" or "new Cold War" situation in China-U.S. relations, China has established coordination, cooperation and stability as the general tone for the future development of bilateral relations. Only in this way can China and the United States better solve the problems they face at home, and effectively control various regional and global contradictions and conflicts, so solutions to various challenges facing the international community can be found, and the ideal of peace, stability and common development of the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large can be turned into reality.

In this arduous and tortuous historical game-play, the United States will be the main aspect of the contradiction for a long time. This is not only because the United States has a greater advantage in strength comparison and has a large number of traditional allies to support it, but also because of the frictions and conflicts between China and the United States that are mainly initiated by the United States, and it is the United States that has a greater responsibility and a stronger destructive impact on international relations. In the face of this situation, China is neither simply responsive, nor in a passive mood, nor in a compromise, but on the one hand, it insists on opposing hegemonism and power politics, and insists on resolving conflicts through dialogue and negotiation, on the other hand, it vigorously pushes the United States and China to make similar efforts, activate and effectively use the various dialogue mechanisms and platforms that have been set up by both sides, so as to take the initiative to seek equal and cooperative relations featuring mutual respect, inclusiveness and seeking common ground while reserving differences, strive for frank communication on strategic security issues, expand mutually beneficial cooperation in the economic, technological and cultural fields, effectively manage and control problems hidden with major differences and crises, avoid the "Thucydides trap" through unswerving and unremitting rational interactions, and continuously build a new paradigm for China-U.S. relations.

The structural differences and contradictions between China and the United States are extensive and profound. The frictions and conflicts between the two sides around social system, development path and value system are even difficult to reconcile. Therefore, to build a coordinate, harmonious, cooperative and stable relationship between China and the United States should not be based solely on economic and trade relations, but on the three basis of economic and trade cooperation, cultural exchanges and security dialogue. To promote the return of Sino-U.S. relations to the track of sound interaction and rational development as much as possible is not only in line with the requirements of the times for the Chinese nation to achieve comprehensive rejuvenation and then become a responsible world power, but also in line with the general interests that the United States maintains its own strategic positioning and the common progress and security of human society. Both China and the United States should have a clear understanding of this. Under the current circumstances, China should talk to the U.S. side with reasons and move it with emotion, but also make clear the benefits and show the prestige. History will prove that mutual inclusiveness between China and the United States in the process of compromise should be the common and sole choice of both sides. Otherwise, not only will China-U.S. relations have no future, there will be no way out for the peace and development of the world.