China-U.S. ties: Talks matter, but not enough

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Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, conducted the latest round of China-U.S. strategic communications with U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Beijing this week. The talks were candid, substantive and constructive, according to both sides.

Accounting for more than 40 percent of global GDP, China and the U.S. have the world's most important, complex and consequential bilateral relationship. Their interactions have direct impacts not only on the two countries but also the rest of the globe. It is thus vital to keep Beijing-Washington relations moving in the right direction.

As China has reiterated on several occasions, the issue of strategic perception is fundamental, just like the first button of a shift that must be put right. "Establishing correct perception is key for China and the United States to achieve peaceful coexistence," Wang stressed.

Regrettably, the perception that the White House and American society have of China has been based on serious misunderstandings. China, as Wang clarified, is committed to ensuring better lives for its people and to making greater contributions to world peace and development. But Washington, at the instigation of some anti-Beijing hawks, insists on viewing China as a "threat" to U.S. hegemony. This, to some extent, explains the escalated tensions in Beijing-Washington ties.

The expanding "trust deficit" between the world's superpower and the largest developing country greatly raises the risk of the Taiwan question and issues concerning Ukraine, the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula as well, that require coordinated efforts to address.

Against this backdrop, Beijing-Washington strategic communications are vital to enhance mutual understanding and reduce miscalculations. Sullivan's trip – the first by a U.S. National Security Advisor to China in eight years – embodies both countries' commitments to maintaining communications at all levels and promoting the stable, healthy and sustainable development of their ties.

During the meeting the two sides agreed to continue cooperating on drug control, law enforcement, the repatriation of illegal immigrants and climate change mitigation. Coordinated efforts between Beijing and Washington on specific issues are encouraging. But more important is their joint will to talk and manage the risks.

In their meeting, Wang and Sullivan agreed to institutional arrangements for holding a video call between theater leaders of the two militaries as well as the second round of a China-U.S. intergovernmental dialogue on artificial intelligence at an appropriate time. They also discussed a new round of interaction between the two heads of state in the near future. This, without doubt, is good news for Beijing-Washington ties that have experienced ups and downs in recent years.

As Wang emphasized in the talk, it is crucial that the two countries' presidents steer and guide bilateral relations. From the Bali consensus to the San Francisco vision, the exchanges between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden have set the course for bilateral ties. In this sense, the strategic communication also carries special significance of implementing the consensus reached between the two heads of state at their San Francisco meeting.

The stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations requires both words and actions. Communication is a positive development, but is far from enough. Beijing stands ready to translate goodwill words into concrete actions, and the world is now watching Washington's sincerity in managing differences and cooperating with China.

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