US diplomat urges leaders to maintain traditional ties

NEW YORK - A sound China-United States relationship featuring win-win cooperation serves as a "bedrock" and key element of global stability, a veteran US diplomat has said.

"There's a long tradition from Nixon through Reagan, Clinton, through both Bushes and Obama, of strong, cooperative ties between the United States and China," Robert Hormats, vice-chairman of Kissinger Associates, told Xinhua in a recent interview in his New York office.

"One of the things that are remarkable about US-China relations is that the US policy has not been partisan. Republicans under Nixon did not differ very much with Democrats under Carter, and the Bushes' and Obama's views were very similar," he said. "When you look at it, it has not been partisan, and it should not be."

The 73-year-old veteran diplomat and economist was actively involved in the thawing and normalization of China-US relations in the 1970s under the Richard Nixon administration, and also served as a senior adviser to Henry Kissinger, Brent Scowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski, all big names closely associated with US diplomacy toward China in past decades.

In Hormats' view, the US and China, as two major countries and the world's top two economies, have "very strong common interest" in many areas, and "it's very hard to see real progress being made" on many important global issues without the two countries working together.

"So maintaining that sound (bilateral) relationship as a cornerstone of American policy and Chinese policy, I think, has been important and should continue to be important," he said.

Having witnessed the vicissitudes of bilateral ties, Hormats noted that cooperation does not mean the two sides will agree on every issue or there will not be areas of dispute.

For example, trade issues "had been there when I was in government", he said. "The question is, to resolve them in a constructive way or to resolve them in a nonconstructive way."

According to the veteran diplomat, the lesson that has been learned since the early 1970s is that this is a time, now as well as then, for these two great countries "to work together and find solutions which are mutually beneficial and also beneficial to the world, even though no solutions can be quick and easy".

As for some people preaching the theory of "containing China" to maintain US world dominance, Hormats commented that "their minds are in the last century somehow".

"I do know that that kind of policy won't work and I do know also from my experience that doesn't even make any sense," he said, noting that today's China, with its rising economic strength, is playing a more and more important role in promoting prosperity and stability across the world.

"I think the idea has to be one of collaboration, cooperation and finding win-win circumstances. Working with China is the right answer," he said.

As regards the Belt and Road Initiative, a vision for trade, investment and infrastructure development in Asia, Europe and the Middle East laid out by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Hormats said it is "very comprehensive", "very visionary" and "historically important".

Instead of isolating itself from the China-proposed initiative, the US "should be finding ways of working with China in this", he said.

With the leaders of the two countries in Florida, Hormats said he believes that such an early meeting, which takes place just two and a half months after US President Donald Trump assumed office, will not only benefit both countries but also serve "multilateral interests".

Hormats said it is important for the leaders to develop a "good personal chemistry" and review the various issues on the US-China agenda.

A successful presidential meeting also publicly conveys a message that the two countries are not caught in an "adversarial relationship", and will work together to solve problems through "constructive dialogue", he added.

He also suggested that the new US administration move fast to adopt a clear medium-term or long-term policy on China, which should be a "thoughtful' one.

Xinhua