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Bury outdated mentality

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-01-19 07:59

As expected, the meeting between President Hu Jintao and his US counterpart Barack Obama in Washington on Wednesday has drawn widespread attention from the two countries and the rest of the world.

To usher in a bright future for the world's most important bilateral relations, the two leaders should seize the opportunity to set the tone for their ties in the coming years.

Bearing in mind that China-US ties now go beyond bilateral boundaries and have assumed global significance, the two leaders should send positive signals to the rest of the world that they will work more closely together and jointly contribute to world peace and development.

Beijing's sincerity in cultivating a sound relationship with Washington is evident from Hu's interview with US newspapers before he embarked on the trip.

"We both stand to gain from a sound China-US relationship, and lose from confrontation," Hu said.

The centerpiece of Hu's message was that both countries should abandon the zero-sum Cold War mentality as the world embraces peace and development in the new era. Only by freeing themselves from the shackles of the Cold War mindset can the two giants cooperate successfully on a wide range of issues.

This is an attempt to move beyond this mentality that has defined China-US interaction up until now and caused the up-and-down dynamic of bilateral ties in recent years.

With China's comprehensive national strength growing, some in Washington view China as a potential threat instead of a growing opportunity for expanded bilateral cooperation.

Under the influence of such an outdated mindset, disputes and suspicions have arisen from time to time that have overshadowed or offset positive developments in bilateral relations, despite the fact that both peoples have demonstrated a strong political will to cultivate a stable and healthy environment for their ties.

When drawing up the blueprint for Sino-US cooperation in the coming decade, it is necessary for Beijing and Washington to build consensus on burying the remnants of this outdated Cold War mentality once and for all. This is the only way to achieve whole-hearted, not half-hearted, cooperation in the future. It will also be instrumental in building more strategic mutual trust.

Obviously, disagreements and frictions between China and the US are unavoidable on some issues, the key is to view and cope with them properly.

Moreover, the two nations should deal with differences through equal dialogue and negotiations and intensify risk control. Bilateral common interests are far larger than divergence, and cooperation is always the lifeblood of bilateral relations.

One meeting will not solve all the problems afflicting such a complex relationship. But it is realistic to expect that when the leaders of both countries sit down together they will show political wisdom to better manage their ties, so that both countries, as well as the rest of the world, will benefit from their thriving cooperation in the near future.