Both Chinese and Americans love to define and label the people they deal with as friends or foes, mapping out action plans and policies accordingly. It is nerve-racking, however, to look at Sino-US relations with such a friend or foe mentality. Six decades after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the development of Sino-US relations have gone through three phases. Each lasting for roughly 20 years, the first phase saw the two countries confronting each other as bitter foes and the second witnessed their growth into quasi-allies. Now, as we enter the last phase, it begs the question: Are the US and China friends, or are they foes?
Decision makers, political elites and thought leaders in both China and the United States have been working to create a clear description and definition of post-Cold War Sino-US relations. Gone, it seems, is the strategic substrate propping up Sino-US relations, giving way to a decade-long phase of frictions and collisions between the two countries. Surprisingly, the September 11th terrorist attacks have served as a turning point in bilateral relations, and brought leaders from China and the US to see the need for standing together against common security threats.
Analyzing this security development brings to mind the metaphor of two neighbors living across a river. After joining forces to beat their common enemy, the neighbors come to bicker with each other. Suddenly, one of the two neighbors comes under attack and suffers casualties. Seeing their exposure to many other security threats due to relaxed vigilance, this victim would rush to reinforce their fence or border. At the same time, the victim sets out to hunt for the attacker, and vows to retaliate with a heavier blow so as to regain dignity and prestige. Meanwhile, the neighbor across the river comes to provide comfort and promises to join in the hunt for the attacker. Touched by the neighbor’s warmth, the victim takes its neighbor as a ‘stakeholder’ or even as a partner. As the fence is strengthened and the culprit is captured, the victim sees an end to their conflict, and, once again, turns toward its neighbor across the river. To the victim’s surprise, this neighbor has grown stronger and does not always listen, but instead seemingly tries to challenge the victim, a behavior the latter finds difficult to put up with.
In the case of the two neighbors, the victim portrays the United States and China takes the role of the neighbor across the river. Following wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the global financial crisis, the United States has once again set its sights on China as the gap between the national strength of China and the United States continue to narrow. Returning to the Asia-Pacific region, the United States seeks to rebalance power and tighten its rein over this untamed neighbor. As China presses on in pursuit of its dreams, the United States has come to feel all the more uneasy about its security and increased its suspicion that China has an axe to grind.
Fortunately, the top leaders of the two countries have now seemingly come to a consensus about the development of a new type of relationship between major powers. In his speech at the opening ceremony of the Fourth China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue, Chinese President Hu Jintao proposed that China and the United States continue efforts to tighten their bilateral ties and develop an exemplary relationship between major powers based on respect, cooperation and mutual benefit. US President Barack Obama, meanwhile, welcomed China’s rise and expressed his firm belief that the United States and China would show the world that their relations will never deteriorate into those of the Cold War era. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said there is a need to find a new answer to the old issue concerning relations between established and rising powers, adding that the United States and China are now working on a model to maintain stability during times of both cooperation and competition while seeking a balance acceptable to both sides. Obviously, leaders of both countries aspire to terminate the historical curse between rising and falling powers; instead, taking up the historic mission to develop a new type of relationship characterized by peace and stability. As demonstrated by Chinese and American leaders, partnership is the essential feature of this new type of major power relationship.
To fully understand how partnership can shape these relationships, we turn to an exchange between Li Zhaoxing, the former Chinese Foreign Minister, and Madeline Albright, the former US Secretary of State:
ALBRIGHT: Can you tell me China’s foreign policy, using as few words as you can?
LI: Can you do with yours?
ALBRIGHT: Just two words: leadership and partnership.
LI: Ours is also just two words: peace and independence.
If we borrow from the smart expressions of these two great diplomats, can we expect the future relationship between China and the United States to be one of ‘leading partnership based on peaceful independence?’
Partners are intertwined with ties closer than those of friends. When it comes to the reality of Sino-US relations, it is not as important to assign them into the camp of friends or foes, because both friends and foes may turn their weapons around. What counts here is their attitude towards and treatment of each other as friends or foes. Hopefully, both countries put forth the effort to win trust from each other, eliminating suspicion and mistrust. It is our belief that by moving forward with courage and caution, both China and the US can surely develop a new type of partnership. If power and interest balancing can no longer pose a problem for bilateral relations, both countries will avoid the labels of friend or foe, instead embracing a new partnership between major powers.
Chen Yonglong is Director of the US Center of the China Foundation for International Studies.
Xue Junying is a Researcher at the US Center of the China Foundation for International Studies.
