Hopes raised for recalibration of Sino- US ties in right direction

That President Xi Jinping waited for the appropriate signal before sending a message to Joe Biden congratulating him on his election victory was simply showing due decorum.

That many other leaders jumped the gun shows how desperate some countries are for a change of approach by the United States, the current US administration’s brash self- centeredness having become increasingly taxing and trying.

Not least for China, of course, which has been the primary target of the administration’s “America first” offensive. From the trade tariffs that signaled the start of the trade war it launched to its assaults on Chinese technology companies, the outgoing administration has kept China firmly in its sights, expanding its onslaught with constant smears aimed at besmirching China’s good image and estranging it from the international community.

The response Biden’s transition team gave to Xi’s message gave no hint of the administration- to- be’s intentions, but recalibrating the country’s China policy is a task that should not be delayed.

The current administration’s policies aimed at containing China have taken a heavy toll on bilateral relations and global stability.

The US and China do have their differences, and because of the two countries’ close economic, trade and cultural interactions, they cover a wide spectrum, but promoting healthy and stable ties is not just in the fundamental interests of their two peoples, but also the world, with the international community widely hoping for greater certainty, clarity and cooperation.

Biden’s remarks indicate that the pandemic, climate change and nuclear nonproliferation are issues high on his immediate agenda, all of which open the door to practical cooperation with China, and present the opportunity to restore trust by working together on issues of common concern.

And Beijing has extended an olive branch by hinting at its openness to resume the stalled trade talks, which allows the two sides a framework for disentangling many of their seemingly complicated conflicts of interest.

Neither the US nor China has the capacity or the motive to continue the confrontation initiated by the hawkish ideologues of the incumbent US administration. It is time to hit the reset button.

With some in the US having sought to write off the hard- won achievements of the past 40 years by promoting decoupling and a new Cold War, the Sino- US relationship has undoubtedly been experiencing severe difficulties. Nonetheless, China’s policy toward the US remains consistent; it is willing to develop relations with the US on the basis of goodwill and sincerity.

The attention Biden’s picks for key positions in his administration have received in China — as well as the remarks by a Foreign Ministry spokesman on Thursday that China is willing to talk with the US side as long as that promotes the healthy development of bilateral relations — drives home the point that this is an opportunity for the US to make a turn for the better.

The two sides would certainly be able to settle the shock waves that have disturbed their relations through dialogue. That being said, the onus is on the new US administration to demonstrate it is ready to heal the wounds inflicted by its predecessor on the most important bilateral ties in the world.