China's role to shape the globe

In terms of China's development, the past three decades have been a stunning success. The Western world has seen a startling change in China's new geopolitical posture in 2010 and 2011. Some have reacted to these changes with alarm.

The real issue is not China's rise to a position of leadership on the international stage, but rather the leadership role that China decides to play. As China has grown from a country with a "lack of confidence" to one that is often accused of "assertiveness," it has reflected China's relationship with the outside world, especially the relationship with its most important neighbors. In particular, China's relations with Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan, and to a lesser extent South Korea, have experienced various setbacks.

Even if many of these bilateral tensions were the result of steps undertaken by both sides, those in East Asia and in the West who have been worried about a new Chinese assertiveness were alarmed by the way in which China's leaders decided to manage these tensions.

That said, most countries, especially the US, are sincere when they say they welcome the rise of a China as a responsible international stakeholder that should play a constructive leadership role in global affairs.

Yet, As China's capabilities grow, many wonder whether the new leadership that emerges from the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the National People's Congress next March will use those capabilities in a way that helps address problems in what is often termed global governance, and whether they will demonstrate a commitment to peacefully managing international security issues where China has disagreements with regional neighbors and with the US.

Now that the US elections are over, we should expect that the Obama administration will stay the course that it has followed during its first term - a US policy toward China that seeks to maintain a sound working relationship based on cooperation where that is possible, but ensuring American economic and security interests and adhering to American values even if that entails disagreements with China.

We should also expect, however, that the media and public opinion in the US will continue to reflect competing views about Sino-US relations, something we now see in China as well. It is natural in every country that there are differences between the government's official policies and the views of the general public. And it is also natural that there are differences of opinion among those serving in the government and among the general public as well.

Moreover, this diversity of views is beneficial to US-China relations since open debate over policy encourages more careful consideration of the costs and benefits of the policies that are being discussed. Debate opens the door to criticism that identifies policy errors and as the saying goes, "seeking truth from facts" is the first step toward improving a country's policies.

There are many policy areas where a sound working relationship between the US and China is mutually beneficial and, indeed, beneficial to others.

This relationship is important to issues including attempts to address the challenges of global climate change, efforts to combat international terrorism and piracy, multilateral measures to slow the spread of nuclear weapons, and the coordination of efforts to foster the conditions necessary for a stable and prosperous global economy. Perhaps most urgent is the need to peacefully manage sensitive disputes in East Asia, where both China and the US, as well as other countries, have important interests at stake.