On April 13, 2013, Huanqiu (Global Times) published an editorial on new U.S. Secretary of the State John Kerry’s visit to China. Below are some highlights:
“This secretary is familiar with diplomatic affairs and is moderate in style, which is different from the former secretary Hillary Clinton.” “To Chinese people, the cold face of Hillary Clinton is hard to forget. [However,] ‘Moderate Kerry’ is only one of the many symbols of the United States. Even though his ‘moderation’ is true, he will not be able to lead the U.S. to reduce its suspicion toward China.”
"What Sino-U.S. diplomacy is has become a blurred and serious problem. In the past, we considered it to be diplomatic visits by the leaders of the two countries, Sino-U.S. trade, and military talks. Today even ordinary Chinese people can realize that matters such as the friction over the South China Sea, the Diaoyu Islands conflict and the Korean Peninsula chaos all contain ‘Sino-U.S. diplomacy.’ This makes a lot of Chinese people feel uncomfortable whenever the U.S. comes to mind." “Today, a considerable number of Chinese people believe the overall goal of the U.S. toward China is to overthrow the current political system and to ‘crush China’ in a way similar to what U.S. did to the Soviet Union. Therefore, China needs to be extremely vigilant while developing relations with the U.S.”
“Mutual trust between China and the U.S. cannot reach the same level as the trust among the U.S. and its allies. If the two countries allow each other’s strategic suspicion to go unchecked, the maintenance of "normal relations" between China and the U.S. can only rely on ‘common commercial interests.’ Such a relationship is not as strong as some people believe. It is very clear by just looking at the relationship between China and Japan.”
“It should be emphasized that the nature of suspicion in China and the United States is different. The U.S. worries that the rise of China is a challenge to its dominant position. Its preventive measures against China are offensive, such as the implementation of the ‘Asia-Pacific re-balancing strategy,’ deploying troops around China, and encouraging China’s neighboring countries to be aggressive in the island dispute with China. On the contrary, China’s precautions against the U.S. are an instinctive protection of the country’s current political and security interests. China’s approach is defensive.”
Source: Huanqiu, Aril 13, 2013
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/editorial/2013-04/3828126.html