50 years on, Nixon's visit offers guidance for ties at a crossroad: China Daily editorial

Monday marks the 50th anniversary of former US president Richard Nixon's visit to China.

The importance of that epoch-making trip can never be exaggerated, as not only did it herald the normalization of relations between the two countries but it also played an indispensable role in shaping the generally positive trajectory for bilateral relations in the ensuing decades.

It was due to the leaders of the two countries taking the overall situation into consideration and their shared willingness to pursue common interests while overcoming differences that enabled them to end the estrangement of more than 22 years.

Of course, the United States was more confident in itself 50 years ago, when China's gross domestic product was merely 9 percent that of the US. Relations between the two countries have soured in recent years because China's GDP is now about 78 percent that of the US, which has sparked worries in Washington that with China on a rising trajectory and the US on one of relative decline — thanks to its own lack of foresight and errors of judgment — China may challenge the US' hegemony unless its rise is checked.

Yet China does not seek hegemony. Instead it upholds mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation as the touchstones for international relations, including its relations with the US. Instead of brooding on how to hobble China's development, strategists in Washington should demonstrate the same foresight and wisdom that their predecessors did and look at the bigger picture of the times.

Thawing the ice that has formed between the two countries today will benefit the whole world as the two can then dedicate themselves to resolving common challenges confronting the world rather than each other. The common interests of the two countries are much greater than they were 50 years ago — the trade volume, for instance, has expanded from less than $100 million in 1972 to more than $755 billion last year — but so too are the common responsibilities they shoulder.

China has no intention of overturning the postwar order the US has established and dominates. Instead, it advocates for its improvement and contributes to it by serving as a growth engine, poverty reducer and promoter of sustainable development.

Sino-US relations are clearly at a fork in the road. Reviewing the circumstances in which Nixon's visit took place and the outcomes would be conducive to relations proceeding in the right direction.

That Beijing announced on Monday countermeasures against two US companies involved in repeated arms sales to Taiwan, serves to show how far the US has strayed from the commitments it made 50 years ago. Those commitments point the way to amicable ties. Washington should not renege on them without carefully considering the consequences.