China's Peaceful Rise: Speeches of Zheng Bijian 1997-2005

A New Opportunity for Relations between China and the United States

A New Opportunity for Relations between China and the United States Council on Foreign Relations, December 13, 2002 From Washington to New York, wherever I go in the States on my current trip, I hear a lot of American friends say that there is a new opportunity now for Chinese-U.S. relations. I very much echo their views, but the question is, how should we view this new opportunity for Chinese-U.S. relations? Opportunity is an eternal theme. When Francis Bacon talked about opportunity he said, “Opportunity only favors those prepared minds.”We may not be well prepared today to let opportunity favor us, but I believe we can at least talk about it. In general, we talk about two types of opportunity for state-tostate relations. The first type is generated by changes in external factors and the second is determined by the development of inherent factors. As far as Chinese-U.S. relations are concerned, we have experienced the first type of opportunity. For example, for about one decade, from the 1970s to late 1980s, there existed a so-called big triangle strategic relationship between the United States, the U.S.S.R., and China. As a matter of fact, rivalry between the United States and the U.S.S.R. brought China and the United States together to cope with the Soviet threat, which in turn created an opportunity for Chinese-U.S. relations. I remember that during my first visit to the United States, in 1979, when we said the word bear at meetings with our American friends, everybody would know what we were talking about. That is 67 9725-7 zheng txt 8/18/05 10:59 AM Page 67 because it instantly reminded us of the most important thing in common between the two states then; namely, dealing with that “polar bear.” Since there was a polar bear out there threatening both of us, we became friends. So, a lot of credit should indeed be given to that bear. However, in the 1990s, the U.S.S.R. disintegrated overnight. The sudden disappearance of the bear led people to wonder whether there still were opportunities for Chinese-U.S. relations. To some people in America, the bear took such opportunities with it. Thus, after that there were more troubles or even conflicts in the bilateral relationship. It looks very much like a joke of destiny that the events of 9/11 seem to have brought back opportunities for Chinese-U.S. relations . As a result, when friends meet and talk about relations between our two countries, we hear the word opportunity again with some frequency. This leads me to think about what it is that constitutes the foundation of the opportunity, that can ensure that Chinese-U.S. relations will grow stably over the long term. Certainly, China and the United States share a position against terrorism. This is without any doubt important; thus, it is a new opportunity. But in view of what we have learned from our experience in the decade from the 1970s to the late 1980s and the subsequent twists and turns in the bilateral relationship, if some similar position against terrorism is the only thing that holds our two great nations together, isn’t the relationship too fragile, even pathetic? Doesn’t it make you feel sad? Do you believe that Chinese-U.S. relations could have sustained growth on the basis of that alone? Do you believe this could be the hope for the bilateral relationship? Frankly, the opportunities generated by the big triangle, as we 68 China’s Peaceful Rise 9725-7 zheng txt 8/18/05 10:59 AM Page 68 saw in the 1970s and the 1980s, and those brought by the events of 9/11 or some other hot issues are derived from outside factors. We cannot say such opportunities are not important, but if they are the only things we count on, we will fail to see the other side of the story. In particular, we will overlook the new circumstances of the twenty-first century, and the fact that China has been on the course of reform and development for twenty-three years and will continue on such a path. I believe the biggest opportunity for Chinese-U.S. relations in the twenty-first century lies in China’s development path, as far as the Chinese side is...