Editorial | Search for common ground must not give way to intractable issues
- There is no denying the profound difficulties in relations between China and the United States, but there is a need before too long for candid and frank exchanges to find a way forward
Different perceptions of the widening gap can be important, even when two key speakers share common views. Tung Chee-hwa, former Hong Kong leader and now vice-chairman of China’s top political advisory body, and former Australian prime minister and foreign minister Kevin Rudd both identified Hong Kong and Taiwan as obstacles to better relations between Beijing and Washington and other Western powers.
Rudd saw restraint from Beijing in dealing with democracy activists as important. In defending Beijing against a campaign based on misconception and misunderstanding of “one country, two systems”, Tung made a passionate call for better understanding of China and Hong Kong. But both lamented worsening China-US ties when they needed to work together, with Rudd calling for an end to “megaphone diplomacy”.
Bonnie Glaser, a former US government adviser on defence and foreign affairs and director of the China Power Project at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said that before any China-US summit the US had to reinvigorate its alliances and restore its reputation. Daniel Russel, who served as a top East Asia adviser to Barack Obama, said it would be “unconscionable” and “dangerous” if the two superpowers did not have some level of dialogue.
If participants in the conference and its discussion groups came away with a positive message, perhaps it was that from Long Yongtu, who negotiated China’s entry to the World Trade Organization in 2001, a pivotal event in the country’s economic rise and rivalry with the US. He said there were still areas of common ground on which the two could collaborate, including core trade issues such as the US deficit and intellectual property rights and climate change.
There is no denying the profound difficulties in bilateral relations, compounded by the new sticking point of Hong Kong, in addition to Xinjiang, Taiwan and Tibet. The enduring message from the conference is that the two leading powers cannot afford to see their relations continue falling apart. Cool heads on both sides realise total decoupling is impractical. There is therefore a need, before too long, for candid and frank exchanges between the two in which intractable issues are not allowed to obstruct the search for common ground for a way forward, for example on issues of our times like climate change.