Conflict between China, West not inevitable: Harvard professor

BEIJING -- China, with "a decidedly different economic and political system and strategic interests of its own," may not necessarily imply inevitable conflict with the West, a Harvard University professor has said.

Dani Rodrik, professor of International Political Economy at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, aired the view in his opinion piece titled "the Resistible Rise of US-China Conflict" published on Project Syndicate recently.

"While states may prioritize national security and survival above all else, there is a big gap between meeting these narrower objectives and maximizing power," the expert said, noting that "Game theory, real-world experience, and lab experiments all suggest that reciprocity induces cooperation."

"Finally, it is also true that uncertainty and the risk of misperceiving other states' intentions complicate prospects for international cooperation among great powers. Purely defensive measures - whether economic or military - are likely to be perceived as threats, cumulating through a vicious cycle of escalation," he warned.

"But this problem, too, can be mitigated to some extent ... what might help is a framework that facilitates communication and encourages mutual justification of actions that may be misinterpreted by the other side," he added.