Chinese wisdom of incremental improvement

With the world in transition, Sino-US relations have become a cause for global concern. With many people, seemingly perceiving a conflict, even war, as inevitable between the established and emerging power.

It is apparently especially difficult for many Western international relations practitioners and scholars to think outside the box, and therefore they view China-US trade frictions through the prism of the Cold War or a zero-sum game. By doing so, they cast a shadow on Sino-US ties.

There is a need for new thinking, to renew the understanding of Sino-US relations, which could also lay a foundation for the development of a new type of international relations.

The Chinese approach of continuous, incremental improvement could be used as reference in international relations to highlight symbiosis rather than the zerosum game or Cold War approach of the West. The key to incremental improvement is expanding cooperation and managing disputes.

The Chinese view of cooperation is a long-term, win-win process between countries based on mutual respect for each other’s core interests and the pursuit of coexistence instead of one-upmanship or brinkmanship. New proposals can coexist with but not necessarily overrule or make redundant previous ones. Problems are to be solved through dialogue, seeking common ground and shelving differences and deepening coordination and cooperation to expand common ground.