China, US pledge for cooperation

Yuba Nath Lamsal
When leaders of the two largest economies of the world –United States and China—met in Los Angles, USA, last week, they pledged to work for cooperative and constructive competition rather than confrontation and conflict on issues that have bilateral, regional and global impact. In a summit meeting on May 8, President Barak Obama and President Xi Jinping pledged to build a new model of relations between the United States and China.  They, apart from the bilateral issues, discussed matters of regional and global impact that included, among others, Middle East, North Korea, disputes in South China Sea, Climate change and growing cyber crime.
On these issues, both Washington and Beijing have highlighted the importance of the U.S.-China relationship and expressed commitment to work more closely for bilateral relations, global peace and order.
This is the first US visit by Xi Jinping after he took over as the president and general secretary of the Communist Party of China. Xi took office as president in March this year whereas President Obama took oath for the second term of his presidency in January. In the same way, it is the first official meeting of President Obama with the Chinese leader after he was elected for second term as president of the United States. In welcoming the Chinese President, Obama said, “Our decision to meet so early signifies the importance of the U.S.-China relationship and it’s important not only for the prosperity and security of our two countries, but it’s also important for the Asia-Pacific region and important for the world.” This reflects that Washington attaches greater importance to the improved relationship with Beijing.
The summit meeting between the two leaders is an opportunity to assess the state of relationship between China and the United States and also to understand views and stance of both the countries on several key international issues. In their meeting, North Korea figured most prominently as Washington and Pyongyang are in the state of face off due mainly to the North Korea’s nuclear programme.
North Korea is China’s backyard and developments in North Korea are definitely a matter of concern for Beijing. The United States and its allies in the Pacific region have sounded alarm over the nuclear programme of North Korea. Given the danger and disaster that the nuclear weapons cause to the human kind, the proliferation of nuclear arms is definitely a matter of worry for all of us. Nuclear weapons developed by any country in the world should be a subject of collective condemnation and criticism and it should not be done in the selective manner. Now many countries have developed nuclear weapons with capability of completely destroying the entire planet. If the nuclear weapons and programmes are to be abandoned, all nuclear nations should do this and the world should be totally denuclearized for the greater safety and security of the world. There should not be selective approach to bar a particular country from developing nuclear programme. This should be the basis of debate while taking up nuclear issue of North Korea and some other countries. The United States knows well that Korean issue cannot be solved without the support and cooperation of China and it is this reason why Washington has often urged Beijing to cooperate with it on Korean issue.
The other concerns the Chinese and American presidents raised and discussed included the issue concerning the peace, stability and security of the Asia Pacific region. Asia and the Pacific region is the zone of China’s influence because China is very much part of this region. China is in the position of archetype in the Asia and the Pacific area. Given its physical size, its economy and military strength as well as the international clout, China is the centre of attraction in the region as well as focus of international politics. United States, too, has greater stake and interest in the region. The presence of the United States in the Asia and the Pacific is strong and heavy. Thus, interests of these two powers often clash and seldom converge in the Asia and Pacific region from strategic point of view.
There are maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea in the region. The dispute has surfaced between Chine and some of the countries of Asia and the Pacific region including Japan due to the conflicting claim over the ownership of some territories in the South China and East China Seas. Although this should not concern the United States as this is the issue between China and other countries in the region, Washington seems to be over reactive on this issue. Despite being the extra-continental power, the United States is involved in this dispute and has sided with other countries against China on these issues and has pledged support and cooperation, if necessary military support as well, in case conflict flares up in the region. During the talks between Obama and Xi, the maritime territorial disputes and role of the United States figured with prominence but both the leaders have expressed willingness to resolve this issue peacefully.
Similarly, the currency issue is also a hot topic of discussion between China and the United States. The United States has often accused China of manipulating Chinese currency and has asked Beijing to appreciate its currency. Washington has been raising currency issue in order to reduce its huge trade deficit with China.  However, China has denied any kind of currency manipulation.
The issue concerning the Middle East in general and Syria crisis in particular and Iran’s nuclear programme are of greater prominence for the United States. Washington has already backed Syrian rebels materially and morally to oust present Syrian regime of Basar al Assad. However, China has described Syrian problem as its internal affairs and has asked the international community to refrain from any kind of outside interference.
The most positive aspect of the summit between these world’s two powerful leaders is the agreement and willingness to continue constructive conversation and communication not only to resolve the contentious issues and reshape the relationship between these two countries. Friendly and cooperative relation benefits not only China and the United States but also is in the interest of the entire world.
Currently China is in the process of peaceful rise and it is rising. Its stunning economic progress has been a subject of interest for the entire world. Beijing’s new approach for economic development and transformation is world’s alternative model of development. China’s outreach has focused on soft power. Thus China’s assistance to other countries is always economic, and development projects are designed to benefit the recipient rather than the donors, which in sharp contrast to the aid given by the Western countries. The foreign aid that Western countries provide to the developing countries is often tied with conditions. But this is not the case with China and Beijing’s assistance is free from conditions.  It has been a successful and fruitful for both the recipient and donor. The recipient benefits from the development whereas China benefits from its soft power image.
Accordingly, China’s clout in the international area is also getting stronger. But China in no way wants to pursue coercive approach but wants to support the countries especially in the developing world in a selfless manner. China wants to resolve all the issues peacefully and wants to have cooperative relationship with all countries in the world including the United States. China has been telling the world that its rise is peaceful and does not intend to pose any kind of threat to other countries. On the contrary, the United States has taken China as its possible threat and has been applying all measures to counter China and weaken it. Here lies the fundamental flaw in the US foreign policy. At present the United States has adopted the policy of weakening and containing China for which Washington has tried to encircle it from all sides. This is partly the strategy of the United States to strengthen its military presence in the Asia and the Pacific region. Accordingly, Washington has established more US military bases in Central Asia and the Pacific region. Also the United States has entered into strategic and military alliance with several countries in the Asia-Pacific region as well as South Asia just to encircle China. This has concerned other smaller countries like Nepal that want better relationship between the United States and China. But the American and Chinese leaders have pledged to develop cooperative relation in the future which is a matter of greater satisfaction to the world. Now the world is looking ahead with the hope that these two powers would keep their promises and work closely for the larger benefit of not only China and the Unites States but also the entire world.