11 Nov, 2014
China Voice: Asia-Pacific region needs ’new rebalancing’
BEIJING, Nov. 10, (Xinhua) — After two years of absence, U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in Beijing Monday morning for the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting.
Besides the meeting, he will pay a state visit to China, the first since his re-election.
China has welcomed his presence. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told media that China hopes for positive results from his visit and is willing to work with the United States to build a new type of relations between major countries.
The upcoming meeting between President Xi Jinping and Obama is expected to set a tone for the bilateral relations not only in near future but also the long run.
The world is closely watching, whether the largest developed and developing countries, also the world’s first and second largest economies, can figure out a solution to stabilize their relations and manage their differences, for their standoff may lead to collateral damages.
None can deny how different the two countries are and how many ups and downs they have been through.
In the past few years, tension has built up between them. For China, it has been largely due to the so-called rebalancing to Asia-Pacific strategy of the United States.
U.S. officials have claimed that rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific is not intended to contain China, but what the United States had done aroused suspicions in this region.
The two countries should keep in mind that their common interests far overweight differences, and the new model of China-U.S. relationship is drawn from the experience of bilateral ties over the past 35 years.
In the new era, China offers its option to deal with Sino-U.S. relationship. The “new model of major-country relations” features non-conflict and non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation. It acknowledges differences but focuses on constructive mindset and pragmatism to minimize them.
In his speech at the APEC CEO Summit later Monday, Obama stressed twice that the United States welcomes the rise of “a prosperous, peaceful and stable China”.
“if China and the United States can work together, the world benefits,” he said.
It seems that leaders of the two countries have shared similar basic understandings about their relations.
To live together in today’s world needs a new perspective of cooperative coexistence. Both China and the United States have a stake in nearly all important aspects of each other.
As the global economy and governance are undergoing tectonic changes, the United States can make a historic role in facilitating the changes, by embracing China and other emerging powers.
In the Asia-Pacific, where China and the U.S. are major players, they should set the example of well managing their bilateral ties and together contribute to regional stability and prosperity.
For instance, currently, APEC members are pooling efforts to build a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) to minimize the risks caused by fragmented free trade arrangements. The United States can contribute to the process in a significant way.
Progress has been made in promoting connectivity. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday confirmed new visa extension policies between China and the United States, saying that the policies will facilitate people-to-people exchanges and benefit cooperation in all areas between the two countries.
The vast Pacific Ocean has enough space to accommodate the interests of the United States, China and other economies. Benign collaboration in the region will bring more benefits than troubles.
This is the direction towards which the U.S. should rebalance.
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