Xi and Trump Pledge Stable China-US Ties Built on Respect

Washington (GNP): Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump have agreed to build a constructive relationship of strategic stability between their countries on the basis of respect, fairness and reciprocity. The understanding was reached during Xi’s state visit to the United States from September 23 to 25, and it adds three guiding principles to a framework first set out earlier this year.

That framework, described as constructive strategic stability, was first raised in May during Trump’s visit to Beijing. At the time, Xi laid out four elements: a stability with cooperation as its mainstay, one with moderate competition, one with manageable differences, and one with lasting promises of peace. Fudan University’s Center for American Studies director Wu Xinbo said the move from those four stabilities to the three new keywords gives both leaders a clear direction for sound and sustained ties.

Chinese scholars have since explained what each keyword means in practice. Su Xiaohui, director of the Department for Developing Countries Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said respect has long been a foundation of the relationship and requires both sides to seek common ground while setting differences aside. Where interests overlap, she said, the two countries should work together to expand them, and where they diverge, both should manage the gap rationally.

Fairness follows from that foundation. Su said China has consistently held to it in dealing with Washington and opposes basing power on the relative strength of nations. Wang Wen, dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, shared that view and called for fairness to run through both the negotiation and the implementation of agreements.

Reciprocity, the third keyword, is the one Washington has stressed most often, particularly on trade and the economy. Su said that in areas such as tariff reductions and trade negotiations, it should mean respecting the shared interests of both countries rather than favouring one at the expense of the other.

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Foreign observers see the effects reaching well beyond the two capitals. American scholar Nathan Strout said recognising and respecting differences while finding common ground can help expand and ease cooperation. Former Greek Foreign Minister George Katrougalos said the meeting’s results would benefit the world at large, and pointed to the agreement to set up a China-US artificial intelligence (AI) dialogue as especially significant, since the two countries are the leading players in the field.

Trade is the other area drawing attention. Kirill Babaev, director of the Institute of China and Modern Asia at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said the economic and trade consensus will benefit China and the global economy alike, and that cooperation between the two has implications for global development.

For former Chilean Ambassador to China Jorge Heine, the visit shows a different dynamic from before. Heine said, “It means that there is a very fluid dialogue.”