By Jimin Chen
There are several serious challenges the two powers need to surmount if they are to build successful relations.
Efforts to build a “new type of major power relations” between China and the U.S. represent a historic initiative, one that will need to overcome a number of challenges, expected and unexpected. In essence, though, the initiative is very much in the hands of these two countries, as are the major challenges and obstacles. We can broadly categorize the challenges into three main groups: cognitive differences, conflicting interests, and diverging priorities.
Cognitive Differences
China and the United States have different attitudes towards the new model of relations: China is enthusiastic, the U.S. is cautious. In fact, the US has different views on the connotations of the concept, which was defined by China as “no conflicts or confrontations, mutual respect, and win-win cooperation.”
When it comes to “no conflicts or confrontations,” the United States seems to have no objection, as this is in line with U.S. interests and strategic concepts. On February 6, 2015, in the newly released National Security Strategy report, U.S. President Barack Obama made a clear statement: “while there will be competition, we reject the inevitability of confrontation.”
However, the U.S. is suspicious of China’s intentions in putting forward this new idea. Some scholars cite as reasons for China’s enthusiasm for the new concept three points: (1) China wants equal status with the United States as superpower; (2) China wants the U.S. recognize its core interests; ( 3) China is catering to domestic policy needs, namely fostering stronger nationalistic pride under Chinese Communist Party leadership.
As for “mutual respect,” the U.S. is not fully on board, partly because it has a superpower mentality that treats its interests as paramount. More importantly, the U.S. believes “mutual respect” actually means that the U.S. recognizes China’s core national interests, something that is unacceptable for the U.S. From its perspective, China is ambiguous in defining its core interests, especially in territorial disputes. Once the United States agrees with China’s core interests, its interests (such as alliances) in Asia may be compromised.
Read the full story at The Diplomat