Despite resurrected talks of pessimism in Washington over China-U.S. ties, many Chinese and U.S. experts agreed that Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming state visit to the U.S. could help dispel the qualms and inject fresh momentum into bilateral ties.
During a recent meeting with U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice in Beijing, Xi reiterated China's commitment to building a new model of major-country relations with the United States, featuring no-conflict and no-confrontation, mutual respect, and win-win cooperation.
As Xi's upcoming first state visit to U.S. attracts global attention, China has once again demonstrated to the world that it is working hard to seek a sustainable and steady growth of China-U.S. relationship, and more importantly, to foster a new paradigm of healthy ties between world's major countries that will contribute to realizing lasting peace and progress of mankind.
CONFRONTATION NOT AN OPTION
"A sort of strategic anxiety toward China has been on the rise among U.S. policymakers and experts," observed Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at China's Fudan University in Shanghai.
For example, he said, David M. Lampton, a leading China expert in Washington, has recently warned that the U.S.-China relationship is at a "critical tipping point" that gets closer to a cliff.
Talking about such so-called "China anxiety complex" in Washington, Wu told Xinhua that it partly derives from a comparative change of national strengths of the two nations.
In 1979 when China and the U.S. established diplomatic relations, China was among the world's poor countries. Today, the country has grown into the world's second-largest economy, rolling out a series of global initiatives such as Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and "One Belt One Road" that will have a far-reaching impact on the world economy.
For China-U.S. relations, the changing global landscape presents both greater opportunities and more complex challenges.
In essence, the U.S. concerns about China reflect a Cold War mentality and a lack of confidence, said Chen Jimin, a young international relations scholar at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
"The United States needs to change their attitude, recognize and adapt to the new characteristics of the times," he said.
"Uncomfortable as China's rise is for the United States, there is nothing unnatural about an increasingly powerful China demanding more say and greater sway in relations among nations," he added.
Despite anxieties toward China-U.S. ties and all the talks about conflict, most experts said confrontation is not an option for both sides.
"I believe the areas of common interest and common endeavor far outstrip the areas of differences," said Vikram Nehru, senior associate of Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, citing the examples that the U.S. government expressed appreciation for China's participation in the talks about nuclear agreement with Iran, and the two countries discussed climate change.
Despite the disagreement between the two countries, he said it is important to differentiate between them. "There's this very positive track of cooperation between the two countries."
Nathaniel Ahrens, director of China Affairs at University of Maryland, considered Xi's visit comes at an important historical juncture and is positive.
"There is increasing cooperation between the two countries on climate issues, so this is another positive factor," he said.
Indeed, no-conflict and no-confrontation is a necessary prerequisite to building a new model of major country relationship between China and the U.S, which is not only of great significance for the two countries, but also for the whole world.
