The two governments have been rather successful in managing their differences and avoiding possible crises, and they have the determination and the ability to continue safeguarding the overall China-US relationship. In the new normal, both sides need to direct their efforts at clearly explaining to their people the strategic intent of no conflict and no confrontation as well as their willingness to cooperate.

The process of globalization has dramatically transformed state-to-state relations at regional levels: As bonds of community of interest are being formulated on greater scales, cooperation will become essential for coexistence in the future. China-US cooperation in the construction of regional order for the Asia-Pacific is not only in their fundamental interests, but also the two major countries’ historical responsibility for the area.

Washington and Beijing have strengthened cooperation in coping with global challenges as climate change and pandemic control, and seen remarkable achievements. Such co-existence and interweaving of competition and cooperation will become the New Normal of China-US ties for a fairly long period of time, though challenges in North Korea and Afghanistan will test that potential.

The main challenges for the post-Cold War world include: Control by and challenges from international capitals, legacies of the Cold War, asymmetrical threats such as terrorism, regional and transnational conflicts. The world must find proper and effective means to cope with such challenges and manage crises in a time when the mobility and interdependence of personnel, capital, goods and ideas are increasingly enhanced.

Chinese initiatives like “One Belt, One Road” are intentionally open and flexible; no uniform rules or norms are set from the beginning. One of the major challenges for the EU and European countries in the cooperation with China stems from this openness or vagueness, and from doubts about rules that might be applied differently in global and regional contexts.

Despite the president’s focus on the American future, his calls to reform the political, economic and social system domestically and to build a strong network of allies and partners to address potential threats internationally could easily be thwarted by partisan politics.

— “Doubling Down? China and International Order(s)” (By Fu Ying, Munich Security Conference 2016, 13 February 2016) As the Chinese year of Monkey has just a

As the new year dawns, the U.S. still struggles with the effort to shape the world with itself as the center. Resisting the opportunity to build a more positive relationship with China, underpinned by stronger and closer cooperation, keeps Washington trapped in the past, while many of its allies, including Britain, Europe, Canada and Australia, have embraced a multipolar world that is no threat to the U.S., except to its national ego.

In a world of troubles, the ongoing re-shaping of the world order and global governance will require a meeting of minds and concerted actions from big powers.

Competing visions, one with the UN as its spiritual center and the US counterview with itself at the heart of a unipolar world, are vying to shape the world’s future. The US remains the sole superpower in the world, but its attempt to remain the driving force in global governance is doomed to fail in a changing, multipolar world.