World needs China, US to be friends and partners

The deteriorating state of US-China relations is extremely worrisome for three important reasons.

First, it is happening amid one of the greatest pandemics in the history of mankind－a crisis so severe that no one country has the capability to overcome it alone.

Yet rather than working together against this common enemy, the United States has escalated tensions with China.

Second, US-China political relations have deteriorated to their lowest point since the 1972 normalization of ties.

Third, the identity politics in this US election cycle has taken on a life of its own, with ramifications far beyond American domestic politics. It has not only hijacked the even and steady development of Sino-US relations, but is undermining the existing international order－ironically the very order the US has had a prominent role in shaping since the end of World War II.

In eras past, foreign relations were the exclusive domain of trained specialists. Generations of officials and diplomats painstakingly worked out an elaborate set of protocols to ensure that even in the most difficult of times, cooler heads always prevailed to resolve differences. Unfortunately, this no longer seems to be the case.

The US administration has gutted the important bureaucracies. Some of the most qualified and talented diplomats and officials have been jettisoned. The administration has also introduced a new era of McCarthyism－the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence－where scholars and officials with connections to China are being shunned and alienated.

Today, in order to deflect responsibility for domestic policy failures, White House officials have identified China as the existential rival, a communist country that has values antithetical to the US and that needs to be put down.

The problem, as always, is the hypocrisy involved. What is truly happening is that the current US administration has decided on a preemptive geopolitical strategy to restart the Cold War to isolate and contain China.

The tendency to cast a country as the enemy to portray the moral and righteous high ground is not new. Looking back at the last few decades of US presidential elections would suggest that it is a tried and tested strategy. However, in today's world, a toxic combination of social media, competitive media reporting and misinformation promises to undermine any political and diplomatic efforts to repair relations.

Regardless of who wins the US election, it is looking like the anti-China narrative will persist, as members of Congress as well as the executive branch have been keen to articulate these sentiments out of personal political gain, perceived value differences, or just old feelings of racial superiority.

This has the unfortunate effect of hardening positions in both countries and creating insecurity in a world with too many problems.

The US and China, as well as other stakeholders like the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, have an important responsibility to uphold world peace and stability.

If American politicians really cared about history, they would know this: Each successive American presidential candidate who has politicized China as an issue has eventually come around to accommodate and work with China after the election.

The idea that one can beat a country like China into submission is an illusion of grandeur. China's quest for modernization and strategic goals for peaceful rise have changed little since 1978. What China has achieved is its national strength and comprehensive strategic abilities. This has enabled China to conduct its diplomacy more vigorously and defend its homeland and interests more effectively.

Naturally, the US and its allies feel insecure because of the closing of this gap in their relative strength. However, it should not be taken as evidence of aggression. This is just a China more capable of protecting its rights as the country evolves to a higher plane of development.

The United States' relations with China are too important not to be addressed squarely and frankly. US-China relations are one of the most important pillars in our existing world order.

Recognizing that the US and China will be stronger together in facing joint threats to humanity and in the provision of international public goods is the best way forward. The world needs the US and China to be friends and partners, not foes.

Perhaps the first order of business for the US is a deep introspection of its domestic politics and foreign policy, and to restore the country that the world admires and respects.

The author is a researcher with Beyond the Cold War: Toward a Community of Asia, a project of the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Cambridge. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.