THE SINO-US relationship has gone through many ups and downs in the past three decades. Once again, it will be in the spotlight this week when President Jiang Zemin meets US President George W. Bush.
The South China Morning Post Editor-at-Large Chris Yeung talks to former US official James Steinberg, who is now the head of Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution. Mr Steinberg served as a deputy national security adviser during the Clinton administration. The conversation took place on the margins of a regional forum jointly hosted by the Brookings' Centre for Northeast Asian Policy Studies and Peking University.
Q: How would you describe the Sino-US relationship now?
A: It is quite stable. That comes from a pragmatic recognition that there are a number of interests that the US and China have in common, and that we have differences that need to be managed, rather than aggravated.
Q: What marked the change towards a more positive development?
A: During President Bush's election campaign, the relationship with China was not a major issue. It is precisely because of the crisis relationship over the EP3 [spy plane] incident that the administration quickly realised the relationship was too important to be allowed to get out of control.
