OPINION> Commentary
A study in realism
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-12 07:31

The commemoration of the 30th anniversary of Sino-US diplomatic relations is a time to share fond memories, and exchange vows of friendship.

We are forever indebted to those who opened the window of possibilities: Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Deng Xiaoping on the Chinese side; Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, Jimmy Carter, and Zbigniew Brzezinski on the US side. Their strategic insight helped shape and anchor what is now one of the world's most important bilateral ties.

We need rapport to keep the ties from souring. Reconnecting to good old days helps refresh good feelings.

Yet we hope politicians of both countries move one step further, and make it a study session on the way of co-existence. By taking a hard look at their 30 years of ties, both countries will find something to learn not only about each other, but also about dealing with each other.

Three decades back, the two countries were driven together by a geopolitical imperative, or a common perceived threat. They did not even need to know much about each other except a mutual need. The changes in China, and the benefits the countries have drawn from diplomatic ties were far beyond his imagination, confessed the then US president Jimmy Carter.

It did not take long for both to realize the absence of true bond between them. The frequent twists and turns thereafter made many observers pessimistic about manageable ties between the two previously ideological, and on a couple of occasions battlefield, foes. There were times when bilateral ties hit rock bottom. Bitter memories of American sanctions and embargoes, annual review of Most Favored Nation trading status and threats of retaliations, are fresh and vivid in Chinese memories.

We are so accustomed to being a ready scapegoat in US domestic politics that some people confess having a strange feeling when China was an outstanding issue in a major US policy debate. After all, many on the other side of the Pacific remain convinced that an established power and an emerging one cannot but be natural rivals.

Given the differences in culture and political values and systems, both countries know there are limitations.

But the relations have seen what some believe is the start of a virtuous circle in recent years. Not because Cold-War era stereotypes and biases are gone, but because decision-makers in both countries have come to terms with interdependence as a reality. The two countries depend so much on each other in trade that neither can live well without the other, said Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Qishan.

Neither Nixon nor Carter anticipated that 30 years ago. Back then, China was a mere political lever in handling ties with the Soviet Union. Now, it is the United States' third largest trading partner, fourth largest export market, and second largest source of imports. More recently, since last September, it has been the number one holder of US treasury bonds.

No matter how they define each other and their relationship, the two countries share a practical need to keep their relations at manageable levels.

The past 30 years are an invaluable source of political wisdom.

(China Daily 01/12/2009 page4)