Xi- Trump meet to set tone for Sino- US ties

Beijing announced Thursday afternoon that President Xi Jinping will pay a visit to Finland before he heads to the US for a ChinaUS presidents’ meeting at Mar- a- Lago, Florida, from April 6 to 7.

In view of the fact that China and the US are the two most powerful and influential countries in the world, how Beijing and Washington handle bilateral disputes will increasingly exert a worldwide impact. Both leaders have the ambition to make long- term national plans. The forthcoming meeting will be closely watched to see whether it can lay the foundation for Sino- US relations for the next several years or even longer.

Confusion over whether the ChinaUS relationship is a zero- sum game and one side must take down the other is the reason why bilateral frictions often lead to strategic anxieties. It seems there are as many optimistic factors as pessimistic ones in the bilateral relationship. Both sides harbor deep misgivings about the other’s strategic intentions. They in general act prudently, with no desire to cause confrontation by aggressive moves. At the same time, they worry concessions will encourage the other side to be tougher. Domestic voices criticizing the government for being weak can be heard in both countries. Hawkish gestures more easily win public support.

Given the gigantic size of the economic cooperation across the Pacific Ocean, the nature of the China- US relationship is greatly different from that of the US- Soviet relationship which was economically exclusive. The ques- tion is whether such a difference is essential, whether it is irreversible or whether it can become a decisive trend in the evolution of human civilization. Do China and the US have options other than cooperation? Theoretically they do. But in reality those options are unworkable and costly, thus are not viable.

What’s the reason behind this situation? It’s probably because globalization is reshaping the interests of individuals and nation states as well as the way in which these interests are realized. China and the US have carried out large- scale cooperation that is of critical value to both societies’ interests. There is no possibility that confrontation will bring more benefits than maintaining and upgrading cooperation. No one can afford the consequences of destroying Sino- US cooperation.

Will Beijing and Washington move from delaying confrontation to staying away from confrontation? This possibility seems to be increasing. If they really want to seek a good result for the 21st century, it’s time to build an effective framework to manage strategic suspicions.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the meeting between Trump and Xi will confirm the direction of Sino- US relations for the next 50 years. In the following 50 years to come, the biggest mission of Beijing and Washington is to break the Thucydides Trap, avoiding the retrogression of human civilization.

The meeting between Xi and Trump is a focus of worldwide attention. What topics will be on the table and what kind of long- term influence it will exert will be written into history.

Do China and the US have options other than cooperation?