(Xi's U.S. Visit) Spotlight: Experts stress importance of China-U.S. ties

Viewed by many as one of the most important bilateral relations in the world, China-U.S. ties have drawn attention from the global academic circles for their far-reaching influence on world peace and stability.

On the eve of Chinese President Xi Jinping's first state visit to the United States, experts from around the world voiced their belief that the two powers can manage differences and increase mutual trust through dialogue and cooperation.

China and the United States can work together to build a new model of major-country relations, whose healthy, stable development is a need for the whole world, they said.

They noted that the two countries should take Xi's visit as an opportunity to boost confidence on the future development of China-U.S. relations.

IMPORTANT VISIT

"China-U.S. relations are now at a critical historic moment when both sides harbor some doubts and worries over each other's strategic intentions," said Zhu Feng, executive director of the Collaborative Innovation Center for South China Sea Studies.

Xi's visit to the United States is of great significance to the future of China-U.S. relations, world order and global governance, he added.

"Leaders of both countries are obliged to settle each other's nerves and face up to their responsibilities to the world," he said.

Nathaniel Ahrens, director of China Affairs at the University of Maryland, said both sides need to strengthen communication and exercise restraint to build trust in each other over their strategic ambitions.

He said Xi's visit comes at an important historic juncture and the pace of the development of the U.S.-China relations should be accelerated.

"There are many issues in play right now, so how both sides will deal with these differences during this visit may set the tone for the next couple of years," Ahrens said.

Stephen Perry, a seasoned British entrepreneur and China watcher, said China and the United States have many differences but both of them need to work together to meet their peoples' anticipation.

Therefore, he said, despite some challenges resulting from their divergences, China-U.S. relations have been safeguarded by the two countries' pursuit of common interests.

Perry, chairman of the British 48 Group Club, an independent business network committed to promoting links between Britain and China, called on Washington and Beijing to maintain a relationship which delivers mutual benefit and win-win results.

He also urged the United States to adapt itself to a world that has already changed, saying that cooperation between the two countries will bring huge benefits for the whole world.

GLOBAL IMPACT

For Alejandro Simonoff, an international studies expert at the Argentine National University of La Plata, the development of China-U.S. relations over the past decades shows that both sides are capable of shunning a "zero-sum" mentality of clashes and confrontation seen among major powers in history.

The development of China-U.S. relations is a gradual process with deepening interdependence on each other, Simonoff said, adding that the two countries will keep expanding cooperation in the trade and economic field.

Meanwhile, he said, their coordination in international affairs will become a key in handling issues cropping up from time to time from the two countries' relations.

In the opinion of Zheng Yongnian, director of the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore, the importance of China-U.S. relations has gone far beyond their bilateral ties.

As long as China and the United States maintain a stable relationship free of major conflicts, other regional conflicts can hardly change the global balance of power, he said.

China-U.S. interaction in respect to investment, trade, exchange rates, and military and foreign affairs will exert a huge influence on the whole world, he said, adding that the two countries need to look at and handle their ties keeping in view the general international situation.

Ted Carpenter, a senior fellow for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, a Washington-based think tank, said the United States and China have made remarkable achievements characterized by a mature diplomatic relationship.

Close cooperation between the United States and China can have a "beneficial and stabilizing impact on a host of issues," including the nuclear issues on the Korean Peninsula and in Iran, global security, and world economic growth, he said.

Otherwise, he said, a tense relationship between the United States and China will sound the alarm for the global economy with turmoils and clashes around the world.

Referring to Xi's upcoming visit as "momentous," Ramesh Chopra, an Indian veteran strategic analyst and retired lieutenant general of the Indian Army, said that the visit will exert significant impact on the Sino-U.S. relations as well as the global situation.

"It is very important for the leaders of the biggest economy and the second biggest economy to meet now to exchange views and seek some common ground to meet the new challenges the world is faced with," Chopra said.

He said that China and the United States have a lot to discuss and share in such areas as the fight against terrorism, regional security in Asia Pacific and UN reforms. Enditem

Editor's note:

Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay his first state visit to the United States on Sept. 22-25 since he took office in 2013. Xinhua is wiring a series of in-depth stories on China-U.S. relations and the historic visit.

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