China and the U.S. announced last week that they have agreed to return to the negotiating table in Washington in early October. It will be the first face-to-face meeting since the tit-for-tat escalation of tariffs in recent months. One question is how to avoid the worst case scenario and work for the better outcome. 

This is what many global thinkers are contemplating. Among them is Thomas Friedman, a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner and one of the most esteemed journalists in the world. Undeterred by the pessimistic voices all around, Friedman strikes a positive tone describing China-U.S. trade relations as "One Country, Two Systems", as he highlights the deep links between the world's two largest economies. In an exclusive interview with CGTN's senior correspondent Tian Wei, he explained what he meant by that curious coinage. 

"I believe China and the U.S. are also 'One Country, Two Systems'. We are one country in the sense that our fates are really tied together. America cannot rise, I don't believe, without a healthy relationship with China and China cannot rise without a healthy relationship with America. And we got to find a way for our two systems to maintain this healthy interdependence," said Friedman.

He also felt there was a will from both sides to solve the problems. And he does not think that any big problem in the world, such as climate change, cybercrime and nuclear proliferation, cannot be fixed if China and the U.S. are working together. 

Besides, Friedman thinks it is a moment where journalists have to keep their head. He mentioned that U.S. President Donald Trump used to attack him on Twitter, but he responded in a respectful way because the supporter of Trump will respect him back and listen to his message more. 

Friedman shared a story of his own. In the year of 1982, he was the New York Times' correspondent in Beirut. His apartment was blown up in the Lebanon civil war at that time, and his driver's wife and two daughters were killed in his apartment. However, the New York Times did not let him write about it, and they said "you're not the story."

In contrast with the journalistic ethics of the time, Friedman felt that nowadays, too many reporters want to be the story. 

"The need to separate your opinion from the news is more important than ever. But you also have to keep your head because it's so noisy out there. I'm a big believer that if you don't go, you don't know. And coming here doesn't mean I know, but it does reduces the chances that I get it wrong. And because I go around, talk to as many people as I can, and try to balance out... the signal through the noise," he said.

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