The US and China are meeting at least after a few months of hostility. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Chinese Politburo member Yang Ji talked in Zurich hoping for a possible Sino-American summit. While the US is defensive and hoping it satisfies the domestic audience, the Chinese sound more practical. The meeting was described as “constructive, and conducive to enhancing mutual understanding.”
Global Times comment suggests that it was in a more positive mood. US officials apparently have said that a video meet between the US and Chinese top honchos is also possible by the end of this year.
China won’t accept that the US will speak as the “stronger” power in any meetings. The Biden administration is also not so confrontational. Washington is hinting that it does not want to see a “new Cold War.”
President Biden’s statement that the US wants to prevent competition from escalating into confrontation over Taiwan is also meaningful. But that also means that unless some cooperation exercise comes along, things can sour too on this issue.
US officials are saying they want to hold “frank conversations” with China on trade in the near future. Beijing likes that kind of talk. The US has also hinted that it wants to gain more advantage for its consumers by “re-coupling” with the China companies and market. Trade is clearly what matters and the rest are not bogeys but very dependent on the trade deals.
The US needs to grow up. Over reliance on the NATO, the costly Middle East mess, and increasing domestic problems are its own problems which now need repair. China is just playing along.
That China is the big block on the way of making the US great again still carries huge currency in the West. And US politicians want to play along that but options are limited.
On the other hand, the ruling class leaders of the West are more aware than ever before that unless both cooperate; the West will be in bigger shit than China is. More importantly, a co-operative model that will help both the Western and China’s economy is what makes more sense in the nuclearized weapons world.
Ruling the world is not a political issue unless it makes economic sense so much depends on how the future is perceived. European Union states are seeing a lack of economic sense in conventional global political rivalries. This view and understanding is key to how the future shapes up.
The ancient cold war driven mentality has run out of gas so it’s impossible to mobilize local markets using old fashioned global ideological stuff. It worked with the Soviet Union but not with another competing open market economic powerhouse like China.
If the West including the US wants to do well, China has to be a partner in that. And China knows that too, including its own need to enter and remain in the Western market. Which is why in this tennis match for winning the cup, the advantage is in being realistic about the inevitability of global cooperation.
