WASHINGTON - Former US National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski on Monday warned against a zero-sum rivalry between the United States and China, urging the two countries to build their relationship in a global context.

"It is evident that neither can afford a zero-sum rivalry," Brzezinski said in a speech at the School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University.

"We have to recognize the reality of interdependence and the need to shape our relationship in a larger global context," he said.

The former presidential assistant said that it is an important reality that neither the United States nor China is in full control of their geopolitical environment.

He said that China has a very complex geopolitical environment, while the United States is deeply bogged down in Southwest Asia, specifically in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

While recalling historical conflicts caused by worldwide redistribution of power, he noted that both China and the United States treat the current trend of global power balancing "with a sense of responsibility and awareness of what is at stake."

Brzezinski was President Jimmy Carter's national security advisor from 1977 to 1981, and made important contribution to the normalization of US-China relations.