Document offers clue into future Sino-US ties

• Source: Global Times
• [08:24 November 18 2009]
• Comments

Chinese President Hu Jintao holds a press conference with visiting US President Barack Obama following their official talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Nov. 17, 2009. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

The joint statement is a routine thing and doesn't bear groundbreaking significance.-Gao Zhikai

It is a road map for our future steps. It makes clear what we are going to do and to what extent.-Wu Xinbo

It is a step forward in the right direction, but in the future, reducing strategic mistrust is the most diffcult task.-Wang Dong

Editor's Note:

China and the United State issued a joint statement Tuesday covering the extensive issues that concern the two nations. Three Chinese scholars on China- US relations talked to Global Times reporters Lu Jingxian and Wang Yuan on how to interpret the document.

Gao Zhikai, current affairs commentator

The joint statement is a routine thing and doesn't bear groundbreaking significance. Compared with historical documents, such as the Shanghai Communiqué, the joint statement has no similar intention, nor will it have a comparable result. It only indicates that China-US relations have passed another minor barrier on a bumpy journey.

The US, as the sole superpower, has been mired in a bunch of domestic and international issues, for example, a down economy, soaring unemployment, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and so on. In the meantime, China will soon become the second-largest economy in the world.

However, bilateral relations have not reached a turning point. The US is trying to keep its status as the only superpower, an ambition that surpasses its ability now. Yet it does not want to seek a partner sharing strategic interests.

The two sides didn't find a topic to make a breakthrough on. Though climate change is a central issue during Obama's visit, it is an international topic which requires China and US, the two largest green gas emitters, to contribute more.

China-US relations are at a transitional stage, but it won't last too long. How such relations will evolve and the future of the US position in the world are difficult to envision. t is also difficult to tell whether the process will be peaceful or cause conflict.

In a column I wrote for CNN Sunday, I argued that China and the US have to provide incentives for each other to advance bilateral relations and avoid conflicts.

Wu Xinbo, professor at the Center for American Studies, Fudan University, and vice president at the Shanghai Institute of American Studies