Xinhua published an article commenting on U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to China on February 14 to 15. It will be his second in 10 months. Jia Xiudong, a Research Fellow at the China Institute of International Affairs was the author.
The article predicted that Kerry’s visit will focus on strategic issues, rather than on specific problems. It listed several major topics expected to be in the discussion: the expansion of the economy and trade cooperation, improving military relations, international affairs such as the North Korea nuclear issue, the Syria problem, and Iran’s nuclear issues. The East China Sea and South China Sea issues have been very hot recently, but will not be the focus.
The article also pointed out that there are still some problems in the relations between the two countries. The key problem is that the United States sometimes exhibits an inconsistency between its words and deeds, or is even contradictory. The article stated that, when maintaining a presence in the Asia Pacific region and when strengthening its relationship with its allies, the U.S. should not do so at the expense of China’s interests. In implementing its "Asia-Pacific rebalancing strategy," the U.S. should not treat it as a "zero-sum" game and treat China as an imaginary enemy. If the United States deviates from a neutral position and gets involved in disputes of territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, it will only complicate the issues and increase regional tensions.
The complexity of Sino-U.S. relations tells us that building new Sino-U.S. relations among major powers requires a long and tortuous process. It cannot be achieved overnight. As two big powers with different social systems and values, it has never been easy for China and the U.S. to get along. Competition and cooperation are the norm.
Source: Xinhua, February 14, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2014-02/14/c_126134463.htm