THE BEST CHINA, US CAN DO AT THIS Day
Sullivan’s trip notwithstanding, US-China relations at an institutional level wo n’t improve dramatically. The causes for this have less to do with personal characteristics ( US foreign policy experts have a routine of obsessing over Xi’s personal traits ) and more to do with great politics.
In terms of their respective positions in the world, the United States and China perhaps be bound for an essentially conflicting partnership for the next few years.
China ( as all aspiring superpowers do ) is determined to increase its wealth and military might in order to gain more power in the international system, while the United States tries to maintain its dominance wherever possible. The latter will certainly rub elbows with the former, creating a kind of diplomatic tension that is difficult to resolve.
Even the most enthusiastic observer finds the long-term path of relations ominous when combined with entirely different governing ideologies and a tendency by US politicians to goad China for home political reasons.
Hence, it is likely that the United States and China are relegated to resolving differences among themselves with the intention of reducing the existing pressure. Although these nuts-and-bolts interactions wo n’t put diplomats and leaders in the history books, they are the best things Beijing and Washington can do right now.
A key component of this tension-reduction approach is face-to-face speech that is long-lasting, tough, and lingers for the long term regardless of who happens to be sitting in the Oval Office. To its credit, the Biden administration understood this from the outset, even if its actions- the violent reaction to” Balloongate” in first 2023 being the most legendary- can aggravate the pretty dialogue it hopes to keep.
Sullivan and Wang’s conversation last week was only the most recent in a line of markets that date back to May 2023, when the two came together to set up a political channel to deal with problems as they arise.
Meetings like these will continue to be viewed by China hawks as being futile at best and moderate peace at worst. When the only product is more meetings, they might ask what the point is of interesting meetings? But there’s another problem that all too often gets sidestepped: Is a form of political isolation a viable option?
Daniel R. DePetris writes for Defense Priorities and for different publications as a foreign affairs correspondent. This commentary , second appeared , on Lowy Institute’s website, The Interpreter.