Better China-US ties need difference management

Amid flaring tensions on the Korean Peninsula and the beefing-up of US' accusations against China over cyber security, John Kerry on Saturday is set to embark on his first visit to China as US secretary of state.

His visit came less than a month after US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew's China trip during which China's new leaders reaffirmed the commitment to advancing the cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual benefit.

With China completing its once-in-a-decade leadership transition and the Obama administration officially kicking off its second term, the China-US relationship is currently at a new crossroads with the recent completion of government reshuffles in both countries.

China's newly-elected President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Barack Obama have both adopted the idea of seeking a new type of relationship that defies the traditional zero-sum theory, which holds that an emerging power is destined to confrontation with the existing one.

The rapid growth of the China-US relationship in the past decades has well demonstrated that such a goal is not only feasible but attainable, if the two nations continue to respect each other's core interests and major concerns and to properly patch up their differences.

Despite the differences on issues concerning trade, human rights, Taiwan, Tibet, cybersecurity and territorial disputes in Asia, China and the United States share a broad range of interests in promoting world economic growth, maintaining regional and global peace, fighting global warming, combating terrorism -- just to name a few.

Kerry's upcoming visit to Asia, which includes stops in South Korea and Japan, has taken on extra urgency due to the dangerously escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula, which are threatening the Asia-Pacific peace and stability.