There is a strong sentiment in the U.S. that China is the major adversary of the United States and that one day it will replace the U.S. as the world leader. The cover in this issue by Mr. C. H. Tung, chairman of the China United States Exchange Foundation, however, gives an unequivocal answer: China has no ambition to lead the world.
Instead, China needs to focus on its mounting domestic needs, Tung argues: faced with an increasingly complex world, Beijing and Washington should intensify their efforts to build strategic trust and expand exchanges at all levels of society.
Fu Ying, spokeswoman of the National People’s Congress of China, also refutes the growing concern about China’s assertiveness. While China cannot support in its entirety the “world order” as defined by the U.S., Fu writes, “China is part of the existing international order and will continue to contribute.”
Listing an array of troubles facing global growth and increasing threats from terrorism, former senior Chinese diplomat He Yafei seems to echo Tung and Fu’s call for the two countries to work together. He urges world powers to take concerted actions in addressing global tensions and collaborate on reshaping the world order.
On China-U.S. relations, Meicen Sun and Yoshifumi Ide caution “realist” scholars about being trapped in a Cold-War mindset from which they assess China’s ties with its Asian neighbors and the United States. The authors also urge tapping into cultural capital to build collective Asian identity to boost cooperation and avoid military competition in the region.
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