China Report Issue 48 May 2017

(coco) #1

S


ince Trump took office earlier this year,
Zheng Yongnian, director of the Insti-
tute for East Asian Studies at the Na-
tional University of Singapore, has argued that
the various “uncertainties” Trump has created
in the Sino-US relationship should be under-
stood not as a threat but as a neutral opportu-
nity, because just as they contain huge risks,
so there are opportunities for future changes.
When interviewed by ChinaReport, Zheng
said the Mar-a-Lago summit was not a signal for the worse, but instead
“opened better possibilities.”


ChinaReport: Judging from the results released, it seems the Xi-
Trump meeting didn’t produce as many concrete results as we expected.
Had you foreseen this?
Zheng Yongnian: Yes. I think the meeting was actually very success-
ful - no concrete results is the greatest result possible. Meeting with each
other, the two leaders shouldn’t talk about specific issues, but philoso-
phy, worldview, and methodology.
As recorded by Henry Kissinger in his memoirs, then US president
Richard Nixon and then Party chairman Mao Zedong didn’t discuss
specific issues at their first meeting, but philosophy and civilisation. In
fact, we must emancipate our minds when talking about international
relations and realise that it is critical to talk about epistemology.
It is to determine the general direction and principles of the relation-
ship, not solve problems, that leaders of two major countries meet with
each other. Specific problems are solved by officials at lower levels. A
dialogue between leaders aims at building a platform. Besides, through
this meeting, the two leaders built a personal relationship, which is also
important.
Notably, an important consensus was achieved. Xi stressed that we
have a thousand reasons to build a good Sino-US relationship, and not
a single reason to ruin it. Trump said the two countries should lay a
sound foundation for the bilateral ties of the next five decades. Both
leaders acknowledged the importance of the bilateral relationship.


CR: Many people hold that it’s time to re-define the Sino-US rela-
tionship after 45 years of development. The summit is believed to set
the tone for the relationship in future. What adjustments will be likely
made to the relationship?
ZYN: Before the meeting, a signal was released: the two leaders would


talk about Sino-US relations over the next five decades. This is to see the
bilateral relationship in the long run, not just the present.
But even “in the long run” has different interpretations. American
neoconservatism holds that China is an enemy in the long run and
must be contained as quickly as possible.
So far, we haven’t seen Trump act to contain China. So the signals
released are positive and beyond ideology. Nevertheless, conflicts over
specific issues are inevitable.
The national interests of China and the US are more complementary
than directly conflicting. The US should understand that China has a
different culture than the US does and that the country neither has the
wish, nor the ability to be a hegemon. They have no geopolitical con-
flicts, only indirect conflicts, or China’s direct conflicts with US allies.
Over the North Korean nuclear issue, China and the US have con-
siderable space for cooperation, since they are both intent on solving the
issue. Xi showed his determination at the meeting with Trump.
And the issue of economic and trade relations is not one that they
should discuss for a long time. Economic and trade relations have never
been a zero-sum game. From the era of Clinton to that of Obama, the
two economies have always been highly complementary, making a
trade war unlikely.
These conflicts are normal. That they exist is also normal. It doesn’t
mean a trade war is looming, but instead that the two countries should
seek more common strategic interests over such issues.

CR: The Sino-US relationship has always transcended being just a
matter of two states and has affected the global situation. So what im-
pacts will the summit have globally?
ZYN: The US is the world’s largest economy, followed by China. The
third largest economy - Japan - is less than half of China’s economic ag-
gregate size. Seen this way, the relationship is not a mere bilateral one;
the two countries are the two pillars of international relations. Neither
of them can afford to lose the other. I think both leaders are very clear
about this, though they can’t say so.
America should give up alliance relations like those formed during
the Cold War, as alliances are targeted at a third country. China estab-
lishes partnerships with other countries, a relationship that doesn’t target
a third country.
For instance, China launched the Shanghai Cooperation Organiza-
tion to solve regional problems, rather than counter an enemy. Develop-
ing alliances will cause the international community to divide. Interna-
tional wars, historically, were ones between different alliance camps.

Xi-Trump Summit


Zheng Yongnian: uS ‘Should give up Alliance Relations’


Outdated relationships are legacy of Cold War thinking


By Cai Rupeng

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