China's rise is a fact, and the enduring peacefulness of that rise must be a priority for China, its neighbors, the West, and, most importantly, the United States, says Wenran Jiang, Chair of the China Institute at the University of Alberta and Senior Fellow of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, in an op-ed piece on the website of The Diplomat magazine on Sept 3, 2011.

According to Jiang, serious issues and perception gaps continue to divide China and the US, the world's two great powers. Many Americans who view China's rise in a negative light insist that China is simply becoming ever more arrogant, while many Chinese tend to think that the US is suffering from a severe case of conceited superpower syndrome. "As these Chinese see it, the United States has a rather dysfunctional government, but still insists that its political and economic system is the best in the world, and that everyone should emulate it. It's heavily in debt, but can't stop spending and borrowing. It is no longer competitive in manufacturing, but blames others for its huge trade deficit. And the world's only military superpower is often seen within China as trigger-happy when intervening in other countries' internal affairs."

Both sides see each other through a glass darkly, admits Jiang, in spite of decades of close interaction, with millions of Americans, Europeans, and Japanese visiting China every year and similar numbers of Chinese now visiting the US and other advanced countries. Also, increased interdependence hasn't resulted in better understandings on even some of the most basic issues.

So the key issue for China, its neighbors, the United States and rest of the world isn't how many aircraft carriers, missiles, submarines, and next-generation fighters China may produce and deploy in the coming years and decades, says Jiang. "Rather, it's how China intends to use its newly acquired economic and military strength in pursuing its domestic and foreign-policy goals – and how the world's leading powers can ensure that they do not end up harming each other by accident or misunderstanding."

To meet these challenges successfully, concludes Jiang, there is no viable alternative to "a positive, continuous, and frank engagement between China and the rest of the world". As the Chinese economy will continue to grow, the Chinese military will continue to modernize and the Chinese people will remain united in their great power aspirations, a Cold War-style confrontation and containment policy from the West will be undoubtedly met with strong resistance from the Chinese, whose global leverage, particularly in finance, cannot be ignored.