C OvER STORY
could make major achievements under the Trump administration.
“The two countries have realised that they could not achieve any-
thing if they do not cooperate, but will achieve a lot if they choose
to cooperate.”
Zheng’s view was partially shared by Su Ge, President and a Senior
Research Fellow of the China Institute of International Studies. Su
said China now has more capability to shape the American policy
towards China, adding that the Xi-Trump meeting “sends a message
that the two countries are willing to manage their disputes and in-
crease their cooperation based on the principle of mutual respect.”
According to Su, compared to the Strategic and Economic Dia-
logue between the two countries set up under the Obama admin-
istration, the four new dialogue mechanisms Xi and Trump agreed
to establish cover a wider range of issues, which would lead to more
thorough communication between the two sides. Both Zheng and
Su are optimistic about the future development of the China-US re-
lationship.
North Korea and Beyond
For other Chinese experts, besides its symbolic significance, the Xi-
Trump summit also made important progress on issues that could
potentially help to address the strategic distrust between the two
countries in the long run.
For example, Sun Xingjie, a political scientist at Jilin University
said in an interview with Duowei News, an overseas Chinese media
outlet, that the biggest achievement of the Xi-Trump summit is that
the two sides have reached “a consensus that no matter what happens
to the Korean Peninsula, the two countries will avoid direct military
conflict.”
Prior to the summit, China had strongly criticised US military
activities round the Korean Peninsula, leading to much speculation
over China’s reaction if conflict erupts in the region. On China’s so-
cial media, there have long been discussions about the possibility of a
second “War to Resist America and Aid Korea,” as the Korean War is
officially called in China.
According to Sun, through the summit, China sent a clear message,
both in the US and at home, and particularly to North Korean leader
Kim Jong-un, that there would be no military aid from China if war
erupted.
Indeed, after the summit, there seemed to be a subtle change in
Beijing’s rhetoric over the North Korea issue. Contrary to Beijing’s
routine protests regarding US military activities in the region, China’s
Foreign Affairs Ministry and major state media have been rather quiet
on the recent supposed US military maneouvres in the vicinity of the
Korean Peninsula.
Instead of criticising the US, the Global Times, a state-owned and
hawkish nationalist newspaper, even warned that if North Korea
made another provocative move, China may adopt unprecedented
sanctions, “such as restricting oil imports.”
Also, on April 12, after returning to China, Xi made a phone call
to Trump, specifically on North Korea, during which Xi said that
China is “committed to the target of denuclearisation on the [Korean]
peninsula,” and is willing to maintain “communication and coordina-
tion” with the US, which Sun said was an unprecedentedly coopera-
tive tone for China.
Moreover, to the surprise of many, China decided to abstain in a
vote on a UN resolution regarding use of chemical weapons in Syria,
which analysts said reflected the goodwill established between the two
leaders during the summit. China has previously used its veto on Syr-
ian votes six times, but this time Russia was left to veto the action
alone.
For Sun, China’s recent actions are in line with Xi’s statements in
his meeting with Trump that the future of the bilateral relationship
in the next 40 to 50 years needs the leaders on both sides to “make a
political judgement” and “take historical responsibility.”
“Political judgement” means the two leaders need to decide wheth-
er they see the other country as an enemy or a partner, Sun said, and
by “historical responsibility,” the significance of the bilateral relation-
ship toward the peace and stability of the world.
According to China’s state news agency Xinhua, Xi has invited
Trump to visit China, and Trump is said to have accepted the invita-
tion. It is likely that the “positive chemistry” the leaders of the world’s
two largest economies found in their first meeting will continue.
But as Pyongyang remains defiant and the various issues between
the two countries remain unsolved, whether the two countries can
really open a new start for the world’s most important bilateral rela-
tionship remains a question.A man walks past a television report on a North Korean missile
launch, at a railway station in Seoul, April 5, 2017
Photo by cfp