With good reason, Chinese leaders wonder whether the pivot to Asia is the initial stage of a containment policy directed against their country. Similarly, U.S. officials are likely to become concerned about China’s attention and investment in Latin America, not helped by suspicions about China’s intentions in the South China Sea.

The ongoing dispute threatens to drive U.S.-China relations permanently in a far more adversarial, zero-sum direction and destabilize the region.

Mutual trust is essential for candid exchanges and sincere collaboration. This is an indispensable precondition for China and the U.S. to formulate a new-type major-country relationship and take advantage of historical opportunities such as President Xi’s upcoming U.S. visit.

Contrary to America’s desire to impose universal values on the rest of the world, China’s nationalism does not inform or direct its foreign policy. This is exemplified by the institutional contrasts between the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor and China’s Confucius Institutes.

The ongoing series of high-level meetings show that, despite pressures from third-party players, Beijing and Washington value a cooperative relationship and mutual understanding that should continue to strengthen.

As China’s economy and interests continue to grow, Beijing will uphold its sovereignty, security and development interests and will assume a bigger role in regional and global affairs. President Xi’s upcoming visit is another opportunity for Americans to appreciate that China’s actions are targeted at the US and its allies.

The Secretary of State deepened the understanding between two countries at this critical time, but the chatter around the visit reminds both countries that consensus is easy to reach but hard to actualize. Upcoming high-level meetings, including President Xijping’s September State visit to Washington, provide opportunities to expand that critical understanding.

The maritime issue casts a dark shadow on the cooperation between the two countries in the wake of tenser contests in the South China Sea. It is time to prevent this difference from dominating the bilateral relationship.

While the US president is the architect of foreign policy, its development is both a top-down and bottom-up process. As the 2016 election approaches, it’s important to listen to those at operational levels within the government and scholars in academic circles, to see how the public consensus about the US-China relationship is evolving.

Policymakers in the United States, China, and other Asian powers must choose whether to deal forthrightly and sensibly with the changing regional power distribution or avoid the hard decisions that China’s rise poses until the situation grows ever more polarized and dangerous.