US would benefit more from cooperating with China than encouraging others to encroach on the rising power's interests

As an effort to break away from the traditional formality of summit meetings, the meeting between President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Barack Obama at the Sunnylands estate in California points to a more cooperative future.

The hosting of Xi in such a casual manner was a new gesture by Obama aimed at resetting the tone of China-US relations during his second term and in particular to nurture a private bond with China's new leader. Xi's willingness to meet Obama at the Sunnylands also showed China's desire to work together with the US to map the blueprint for China-US ties and pursue cross-Pacific cooperation.

The casualness of the summit was, to some extent, a reflection of the discontent of both countries with their existing ties, which have witnessed a kind of retrogression in recent years. At the same time, it highlighted both sides' desire to reduce the possibility of head-on clashes between them on a wide range of thorny issues.

However, the casual style of the summit did not conceal the cautious and discreet attitude both countries have toward how best to steer the world's most important bilateral relationship.

With a relatively smooth interaction mechanism, the two nations have bid farewell to the era in which leadership changes in either affected ties. At the same time, the working style and diplomatic approaches of China's new leadership have drawn attention from the US and caused decision-markers in Washington to take action to make the prospects for relations clearer, as they had become blurred by a series of events during Obama's first term in office.

The time has gone when bilateral ties were completely swayed or dominated by the US. Although China is still not viewed by the US as an equal partner, the US can no longer ignore the role China plays in international and regional affairs. This has contributed a lot to Obama's accelerated efforts to improve ties with China during his second term.

At their meeting at Sunnylands, Xi and Obama talked about both traditional issues such as trade, investment, human rights and the military, and new issues such as cybersecurity and space programs. Due to their own interests, neither made immediate concessions or compromises on these issues. However, the positive attitude held by both sides on such issues as the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, China's ongoing disputes with Japan on the sovereignty of the Diaoyu Islands, and its rows with some Southeast Asian nations on territorial claims in the South China Sea indicate the possibility for cooperation between China and the US on other important issues.

The importance of the summit can also be seen in the dispatching of a special envoy to China by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea prior to the event, and Japan's wish to have dialogue with Beijing.

However, we should not have excessively high expectations of what the summit achieved, in order to avoid possible disappointments. A summit meeting alone is unlikely to lead to a full entente. An important bilateral relationship such as the one between China and the US should not be built solely on the personal bonding between their leaders.

Some Japanese media claim Xi received a better reception than the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and have concluded that ties with the US are decided by national strength, but that does not mean there have been fundamental improvements in security, as indicated by the subsequent US-Japan islands-taking drill.

The history of international relations indicates that conflicts between countries cannot be avoided by closer economic and trade ties. Instead, they might possibly cause more dangers if efforts are not taken to avoid a conflict.

The US should realize the changes taking place in the international order and accept a rising China before pushing Beijing to undertake more international responsibilities, such as how to maintain stability in the Asia-Pacific region and safeguard the fruits of World War II. Washington should also realize that its Asian rebalancing strategy and its measures to encourage Asian nations to encroach on China's interests will not help it reap the benefits that it can get from cooperation with China. Such measures will only drive China to accelerate steps for military modernization.

Any US insistence that China's rise should proceed in accordance with US-designed rules will likely result in conflict. During World War II, the US chose to be on the side of justice, and it should refrain from any actions that will push it to the opposite side of justice on the Diaoyu Islands issue. A US without a sense of justice will not contribute to world peace and development.

China's history of foreign exchanges also indicates that any unilateral unprincipled concessions will not help defuse troubles forced on it.

What China and the US should pursue is a new type of relations between big powers, one based on cooperation and mutual benefit, rather than antagonism. How to avoid conflicts will test the wisdom of the leaders of both China and the US.

The author is a professor at the School of International Studies, Renmin University of China.

(China Daily USA 06/14/2013 page15)