2016 China-US Public Diplomacy Summit held in Beijing

The 2016 China-US Public Diplomacy Summit opens on June 19, 2016 in Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The 2016 China-US Public Diplomacy Summit was held on Sunday at Renmin University of China in Beijing.

Over 30 government officials, scholars and media representatives attended the gathering, with the theme being to "Promote China-US Public Diplomacy and Enhance Asia-Pacific Security Cooperation".

Addressing the opening of the annual event, Liu Wei, president of Renmin University of China, said Beijing and Washington need comprehensive and effective public policies to build a new model of the major power relationship based on mutual trust and win-win cooperation.

Shi Yinhong, a professor of US studies at the RUC, elaborated on his understanding of a new model of major power relationship while addressing the summit.

"The US should accept China's future leading position in GDP, total foreign trade and its influence in Asia's economy, politics and diplomacy, in order to build a new model of major power relationship,” Shi said.

"To build such a relationship, US should also accept China's competitive military advantage in its coastal waters and weaken military ties with its alliances in the Asia-Pacific region," he said.

"Meanwhile, Beijing should recognize Washington's overall military advantage in the world," Shi added.

Concerning the development of think-tanks in China, Cheng Li, director of John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution, said communication between think-tanks of China and the US played a vital role to handle misunderstandings and miscalculations.

"China's think-tanks are in a fast-developing period, it is inevitable that problems like formalism, inefficiency and similarity will occur. However, the overall development is about advancement and is also historic," Li said.

Wang Lili, deputy dean of the National Academy of Development and Strategy at RUC, said that as the two major powers in the world, China and the US have shared interests.

“We can only choose to cooperate rather than to confront each other,” said Wang, also a moderator of the think tank meeting.

She said that the exchanges and dialogues of the strategic circles in both China and the United States would help reinforce strategic trust and promote the building of a new type of major power relationship between the two countries, as well as to enhance global peace and stability.

Other speakers at Sunday’s meeting were veteran diplomats like Ma Zhengang, deputy president of the China Public Diplomacy Association and former ambassador to Britain, Li Daoyu, former ambassador to the US, Douglas Paal, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and leading scholars like Robert Daly, director of the Kissinger Institute on China, and Jerrold Green, president and chief executive officer of the Pacific Council on International Policy.

The summit was jointly hosted by the National Academy of Development and Strategy at RUC and the China Public Diplomacy Association.