Sino–US Relations and Building a Harmonious World

Abstract

A harmonious world will benefit the whole world including China and the United States. Building a harmonious world calls for good relations between all countries, especially favorable Sino–US relations. Even though China and the US have different perceptions with respect to building a harmonious world, the two countries need to cooperate for that to happen. The constructive partnership between China and the US provides a solid foundation for cooperation between them. For further cooperation, both should work towards building strategic mutual trust and increasing mutual understanding.

Notes

^*Liu Jianfei is a professor at the Institute for International Strategic Studies, the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China. He has published extensively on Sino–US relations. His most recent book, The Great Game: China's Tai Ji vs. America's Boxing, was published by Zhejiang People Press , China, in 2005. Articles on Sino–US relations and Chinese foreign policy have appeared in journals of Shijie Jingji Yu Zhengzhi [World Economics and Politics ], Xiandai Guoji Guanxi ( [Modern International Relations ], Guoji Wenti Yanjiu [International Studies ], etc

^1. See Hu Jintao's political report on the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Collection of Files of the 17th National Congress of the CPC (Renmin Press [] [People's Press, Chinese Edition], 2007), p. 17.

^2. Renmin Ribao () [People's Daily, Chinese Edition], (21 April 2006).

^3. Compiled by Information Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, White Paper of the Chinese Government (1996–1999) (Waiwen Press [] [Foreign Languages Press], 2000), p. 379.

^4. The typical case is the theory of Offensive Realism, which is provided by John J. Mearsheimer in his book The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2003).

^5. See Hu Jintao's political report on the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Collection of Files of the 17th National Congress of the CPC, p. 45.

^6. G. John Ikenberry and Anne-Marie Slaughter, Co-Directors, Forging a World of Liberty under Law: US National Security in the 21st Century, final paper of the Princeton Project on National Security, published by The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, (27 September 2006), pp. 25–26, available at: http://www.wws.princeton.edu/ppns/report/FinalReport.pdf.

^7. Robert B. Zoellick, ‘Whither China: from membership to responsibility?’, remarks made at the National Committee on US–China Relations' Gala Dinner, New York City, 21 September 2005, available at: www.globaview.cn (accessed 11 October 2005).

^8. Renmin Ribao () [People's Daily, Chinese Edition], (21 April 2006).

^9. John McCain, ‘An enduring peace built on freedom: securing America's future’, Foreign Affairs, (November/December 2007), p. 29; Hillary Rodham Clinton, ‘Security and opportunity for the twenty-first century’, Foreign Affairs, (November/December 2007), p. 13; Barack Obama, ‘Renewing American leadership’, Foreign Affairs, (July/August 2007), p. 12.

^10. Department of Defense of USA, Quadrennial Defense Review Report, (6 February 2006), pp. 3 and 9, available at: www.comw.org/qdr/qdr2006.pdf.

^11. Harry Harding, ‘Asia in American grand strategy: the Quadrennial Defense Review and the National Security Strategy’, in Robert M. Hathaway and Wilson Lee, eds, George W. Bush and Asia, A Midterm Assessment (Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Asia Program 2003), pp. 43–50.

^12. See Jiang Zemin's political report on the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Collection of Files of the 16th National Congress of the CPC (Renmin Press [] [People's Press, Chinese Edition], 2002), p. 47.

^13. Department of Defense of USA, Quadrennial Defense Review Report, p. 29.

^14. C. Fred Bergsten, Bates Gill, Nicholas R. Lardy and Derek Mitchell, China: The Balance Sheet—What the World Needs to Know Now About the Emerging Superpower (New York: Public Affairs, 2006), p. 116.

^15. Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, volume 2 (Renmin Press [] [People's Press, Chinese Edition], 1994), p. 378.

^16. See Jiang Zeming's political report on the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Collection of Files of the 15th National Congress of the CPC (Renmin Press [] [People's Press, Chinese Edition], 1997), p. 45.

^17. The White House, The National Security Strategy of the United States of America, (March 2006), pp. 41–42, available at: www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss/2006.

^18. Ikenberry and Slaughter, Co-Directors, Forging a World of Liberty under Law, pp. 47–50.

^19. Liu Jianfei (), ‘The building of democratic politics in China and Sino–US relations’, Zhanlue Yu Guanli () [Strategy and Management, Chinese Edition] no. 2, (1 March 2003), pp. 81–82. (This article has been translated into English and published by The Foreign Broadcast Information Service, The University of Michigan, USA.)

^20. Such as John L. Thornton's article ‘Long time coming: the prospects for democracy in China’, Foreign Affairs, (January/February 2008).

^21. Independent Task Force, US–China Relations: An Affirmative Agenda, A Responsible Course (Council on Foreign Relations Press, April 2007), pp. 90–91.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Liu Jianfei

22 *Liu Jianfei is a professor at the Institute for International Strategic Studies, the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China. He has published extensively on Sino–US relations. His most recent book, The Great Game: China's Tai Ji vs. America's Boxing, was published by Zhejiang People Press , China, in 2005. Articles on Sino–US relations and Chinese foreign policy have appeared in journals of Shijie Jingji Yu Zhengzhi [World Economics and Politics ], Xiandai Guoji Guanxi ( [Modern International Relations ], Guoji Wenti Yanjiu [International Studies ], etc