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Xi-Obama summit set to redefine relations

China.org.cn, June 4, 2013

• The upcoming meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his American counterpart President Barack Obama provides a great opportunity for the leaders to explain their national strategies and explore a new type of relationship between the world's major powers, said Jia Qingguo, a professor and associate dean of the School of International Studies at Peking University.

  On June 7-8, Xi will attend a summit meeting with Obama at Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage, California and it will be the first such meeting since both nations completed their most recent leadership transitions.

  Commenting on the context and likely content of the meeting, Jia said: "This unique informal meeting provides a relaxed environment for the two leaders to have an in-depth, top-level exchange of views, and helps build up a good personal relationship. Their face-to-face talks on detailed problems, such as trade frictions, the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue and Internet security, will promote the building of a new type of relationship between the two major countries."

  Jia added that the new type of big-power relationship was intended to offer an alternative to the tradition model. He said: "In the conventional sense, the relationship between a rising power and a dominant power tends to feature conflicts and confrontations; now, we need to avoid that and try to achieve peaceful coexistence and mutual benefits.”

  According to Jia, the U.S views China's proposal in a positive light; however, the two sides have yet to exchange views on how to deal with specific problems.

  Over the course of the next four years, the Obama administration will continue its "rebalancing" strategy toward the Asia-Pacific region, which is likely to cause considerable concern in China. If the policy specifically targets China with the aim of restricting its development, it would run contrary to the concept of building a new type of relationship between major countries.

  Jia said that the strategy is, in some sense, anti-Chinese in conception. "Now, the two sides need to figure out what should be done to make sure the strategy will strengthen, rather than damage ties."

  He added: "If the U.S. investment in the Asia-Pacific region could promote economic and trade cooperation between China and the U.S., and contribute to stability in the region, I think the strategy would not be a bad thing for China."

  China and the U.S. need to cooperate or further strengthen cooperation so as to help solve the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, Jia argued.

  The two-pronged approach to achieving this would focus on encouraging the North Korea to focus limited resources on its national development and economic construction; it would also involve Chinese expectations that the U.S. should provide security guarantees for the North Korea in the event that it relinquishes its nuclear ambitions.

  In addition, China and the U.S. should coordinate their positions and convey such messages to the North Korean government more effectively so that the six-party talks can be resumed as soon as possible, allowing for greater progress in the region. Jia also revealed that he has high expectations for the upcoming meeting between Xi and Obama. He said: "China and the U.S. have common interests on many issues, which can only be achieved through cooperation. Both leaders are quite clear about this, so they will likely take a prudent but positive attitude when dealing with bilateral relations between the two countries."

  Jia concluded that at the summit, Xi will elaborate on China's foreign policy and Obama clarify U.S. policy, thereby helping to dispel misunderstandings between the two sides and ease concerns among both the Chinese and American public.

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