Can China, US maintain peace in the long term?
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President Obama's recent visit to China has put the future development of Sino-US relations in the spotlight.
China and the United States are publicly committed to peace and development and, in particular, to maintaining the peace and stability in Asia-Pacific region. But the two sides have very different concepts of what constitutes peace.
The U.S. has traditionally believed that peace can only be guaranteed when the world lives under its protection. It also believes it has a mission to spread its own social system, based on private ownership. China has a different vision of human society, based on public ownership. China also believes that only when the people are masters in their own countries can there be lasting peace. Given these two very different conceptions of peace, it is not surprising that the two sides have had serious disagreements in the past and have even engaged in armed conflict.
During his Asia visit, Obama said that the U.S. no longer wanted to "contain" China – a significant shift in American thinking. The U.S. was effectively saying it was not seeking military containment and would not seek to settle differences by force, but would play the game by the rules. This is a major change from America's traditional quest for hegemony and should be welcomed by China.
Major changes in China in recent decades have made other countries less wary of China's system of public ownership. China has abandoned plans to export revolution and replaced revolutionary rhetoric with reform. Internally, China is working towards realizing the socialist principle of distribution – "from each according to his ability, to each according to his work" – and the radicalism of the past has been replaced by realistic goals and respect for human rights.
The U.S. is also moving forward. Although state policy continues to be largely dictated by the elite, the US people care deeply about the image of their country and have demanded an end to harmful domestic and foreign policies. Public opinion has helped the U.S. correct its mistakes. The adjustment of US policy on Iraq is clear evidence of this.
It is not yet clear whether Obama's abandonment of the "contain China" policy is just rhetoric or a genuine change of strategy. But regardless of how it turns out, China will persist in its policy of peaceful coexistence and development since only by doing so can it eliminate the overseas suspicions that underpin the policy of containment. Moreover, as China's national strength grows, containment will cease to be an option for the U.S., and cooperation will be the only practical choice.
Since the U.S. withdrew its troops from Vietnam 36 years ago, China and the U.S. have lived in peace. Despite their different social systems, both sides have remained committed to the path of peaceful development and have maintained regular, close communication with each other. In terms of the security, stability and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region, China and the U.S. have basically identical interests. They may have different priorities on issues such as growth, fair trade and balanced development, but both want to see win-win solutions.
Nevertheless, China and the U.S. remain wary of each other. China does not see any major change in US policy on Taiwan. The U.S., for its part, is keeping a close eye on China's growing navy and its space program. Although China will never abandon its right to acquire capabilities the U.S. has already developed, it is committed to reducing doubt and suspicion by carefully explaining and communicating its strategy. On the other hand, it is hard to square the US commitment to respecting China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as expressed in the recent Sino-US joint communiqué, with its actions on Taiwan.
A joint commitment to peace is now an established feature of China-US relations. But to realize lasting peace, both sides must move towards achieving a shared vision and common values – and be willing to put them into practice.
(This article was first published in Chinese in the Oriental Morning Post on November 23, 2009 and translated by Zhou Jing.)
