Ankit Panda

Opinion | Trump, China defy sceptics with stable ties, but will it last?

US administration and Beijing proved at this week’s security dialogue they have developed a solid working relationship, but deep-rooted tensions remain unresolved, writes Ankit Panda

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US and Chinese officials pictured during the security talks held in Washington on Wednesday. Photo: Xinhua

Ankit Panda

Published: 8:30pm, 22 Jun 2017Updated: 11:26pm, 6 Jul 2017

At their first face-to-face meeting earlier this year, US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a new four-part dialogue framework to succeed the now-defunct Strategic and Economic Dialogue between their two countries.

The first major iteration of that meeting – the Diplomatic and Security Dialogue – has just concluded in Washington.

The dialogue roughly amounted to what is commonly described as a “two-plus-two” format, with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defence James Mattis representing the United States, and State Councillor Yang Jiechi leading the Chinese side, flanked by the chief of the People’s Liberation Army’s joint staff department, General Fang Fenghui.

Ahead of the dialogue, Tillerson had testified at a US Budget hearing about the state of the US-China relationship. He presented a forward looking view of the big questions surrounding the world’s two superpowers. He underlined three major areas of strategic uncertainty that would continue to bedevil the US-China relationship: the sustainability of the ‘one-China’ policy, the North Korean question, and China’s behaviour in the South China Sea.

In the lead-up to the security dialogue, the North Korea question was once again thrust to the top of the agenda, not least due to the death of Otto Warmbier, a US citizen who was released from North Korean captivity in a comatose state. North Korea had also, since Trump and Xi met, introduced a new intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of striking Guam and a new a “ultra-precision” Scud missile.

Kim Jong-un has also directed the Pukkuksong-2 medium-range ballistic missile into mass production and declared initial operating capability for a new surface-to-air missile system. North Korea additionally displayed a new coastal defence cruise missile launcher.