In the past year, the United States has moved toward containment of China on such issues as the South China Sea, Taiwan and cyber security, resulting in escalation of contradictions and frictions. Yet by and large, bilateral ties proceeded steadily amid twists and turns, the aspect of coordination and cooperation appeared more prominent than ever, reflecting a scenario not seen for many years.
The biggest highlight in China-US relations last year was Chinese President Xi Jinping’s successful state visit to the US in September. Building on the fine atmosphere of the Chinese and US leaders’ past two formal meetings, this one brought political mutual understanding and trust to a new level, raising the countries’ “cross-the-Pacific cooperation” to a higher stage through 49 major achievements and consensuses.
In the area of political strategy, the two parties continued to strive for building a new major-country relationship of mutual respect and win-win cooperation, making fresh headway in various fields. On the matter of climate change, in particular, the two heads of state intervened personally to coordinate stances and reached important points of consensus, making a critical contribution to the historic success of the Paris climate summit. That was a breakthrough as well as a successful example for China-US cooperation in global governance. The two sides also effectively managed and controlled their disagreements, prevented the state of affairs from getting out of control, and preserved the fundamentals of bilateral relations.
In economy and trade, collaboration was fruitful. Both countries agreed to forcefully push forward negotiations so as to reach a high-level agreement on bilateral investment. Two-way investments increased drastically, reaching more than $100 billion so far. With the world economy and trade both going down, China-US trade displayed strong upward momentum, reaching $441.6 billion in the first three quarters (according to US Department of Commerce figures). China took Canada’s place to become the US’ largest trade partner.
On the matter of reform of international financial institutions, which is crucial for fundamental Chinese interests, the US, in a rarely seen gesture of goodwill, gave China the green light. In November, when the IMF examined the renminbi’s eligibility for its SDR currency basket, the US, which has veto power, made an abrupt break from its previous stance and voted for the Chinese currency’s introduction. The yuan was assigned a weight of 10.92%, surpassing the yen and pound to become the third most important currency after the dollar and euro. That was a significant milestone on the yuan’s road toward internationalization. Meanwhile, after five years of foot-dragging, the US Congress finally approved the quota and governance reform plan the IMF passed in 2010, which was in China’s interest, making China the IMF’s third most important member country, considerably boosting the country’s say and decision-making power in the international financial system. These were two outstanding achievements for Chinese diplomacy in 2015, having all-round importance for China’s development.
Those were signs of positive change in Washington’s China policies, showing that the US is paying more attention to relations with China, and the aspect of engagement and cooperation has become more prominent. There were three main reasons for the changes.
First, to avoid isolation. In recent years, with the persistent and forceful rise of Chinese influence and China’s presentation and practice of major diplomatic proposals and ideas, many countries in the world, some US allies included, have come aboard. Some US allies in Europe responded positively to China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative and joined the AIIB despite Washington’s opposition. The US wanted to isolate China in the beginning, but it resulted in the very opposite. On the renminbi’s SDR status, since almost all IMF member countries as well as the IMF President were in favor of the yuan’s admission; the US had to follow the trend so as not to be isolated again.
Second, the call of fundamental interests. China and the US have become the largest economic and trade partners on Earth, their mutual dependence has reached unprecedented degrees. The US is indispensable for China’s development. Nor can the US live well without China. At present, China is the US’ biggest source of imports, third-largest and fastest-growing destination of exports, the country with the biggest foreign exchange reserves in US dollars, and the US’ biggest creditor country. According to American expert statistics, economic cooperation with China increases US GDP growth by 0.7 percentage points, reduces US price levels by 0.8 percentage points, increases over 1 million job opportunities, and saves $100 billion for American consumers. Such crucial impacts have prompted the US to seek stronger ties with China.
Third, positive outcomes of China’s wise policies. From theory to practice, China abandoned the development mode of former Soviet Union, pursuing a strategy of peaceful development and peace-oriented diplomatic policies. China has also tried hard to propose dialogue between civilizations and oppose any “conflict of civilizations”. It believes different social systems can co-exist in peace and benign competition, respects each country’s choice of social system and development mode, and does not engage in export of ideologies. Such fundamental concepts and actions of China’s have received acclaim worldwide. Mainstream opinions in American politics, those of government leaders’ included, believe China’s development is an opportunity for the US, instead of a challenge. This is a constant factor that pushes China-US relations toward generally benign development.
The US will not change its Janus-faced policy of engagement and containment. There will be twists and turns as well as stormy waves ahead. But the fundamentals that buoy steadily developing China-US ties will not change, because they embody the fundamental needs of the development of both countries, and the trend of world history.
