2010-05-21 09:45

BEIJING -- As the curtain is about to rise on the upcoming second round of the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED), to be held in Beijing on May 24-25, the world's attention will again focus on the Chinese capital.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said Thursday that in order to achieve positive results from the dialogue, China will strengthen communications, enhance mutual trust and deepen cooperation with the United States.

Analysts say this round of talks is of special significance because it signals a new consensus reached by the two sides after overcoming certain obstacles in their relationship.

Moving Towards the Same Direction

The history of Sino-US relations is full of twists and turns, so every step forward and every turn for the better is precious.

The second S&ED will be another positive turn for both nations after they overcame a number of complicated problems in their relations.

After Barack Obama took over the White House last year, Sino-US relations got off to a good start. Under a consensus reached by President Hu Jintao and Obama in London in April last year, the first S&ED was successfully held in Washington in July of that year and achieved fruitful results.

However, from the end of 2009 to the beginning of 2010, Sino-US relations had been seriously interrupted and bilateral cooperation greatly affected by a series of events, including the US arms sales to Taiwan and US leaders' meeting with the Dalai Lama.

At that time, many outside observers doubted whether Washington would be able to cease those interruptive actions and pave the way for achieving positive results at the second S&ED.

In April, Hu met Obama in Washington while attending the Nuclear Security Summit. During that meeting, Hu put forward a five-point proposal for developing Sino-US relations, and called for "respecting each other's core interests and major concerns and ensuring healthy and stable development of Sino-US relations."

Obama responded positively to the proposal, promising to build a stronger US-China relationship, respect China's core interests, and carefully handle sensitive issues.

The meeting was widely believed as a successful one that was significant to the development of Sino-US relations.

"The recent improvement in Sino-US relations is of course related to China's firm insistence on its right positions," said Zhou Shijian, a senior fellow at the Sino-US Relations Research Center of Tsinghua University.

In recent days, US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman also said frankly in Washington that due to certain decisions such as the arms sales to Taiwan made by the Obama administration earlier this year, the US-China relationship went through many difficulties and challenges for several months. But that difficult period has gone, and the bilateral relations  have entered a new phase.

Unique Significance of A Unique Mechanism

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Taiya Smith, the former lead negotiator for the US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue at the US Treasury Department, likened the two countries to two giant ships in the sea.

She said when the two ships sail toward each other, they need to know the other's course. The S&ED is a unique mechanism to serve that purpose.

Under the mechanism, the two countries are able to hold serious discussions once a year on strategic, comprehensive and long-term issues of mutual interest so that they will be able to deepen mutual understanding, enhance mutual trust and promote cooperation.

Many analysts agree that this round of dialogue will be significant both for bilateral relations and the world situation as a whole.

Tao Wenzhao, a Chinese expert on Sino-US relations, pointed out that it is unprecedented in contemporary international relations that so many top officials from two governments gather at such a huge bilateral meeting as the S&ED.

The second S&ED will be held at a time when the world economy has begun to show signs of stability after the financial crisis but is still faced with uncertainty.

The G-20 summit to be held in Toronto in June will be a crucial top-level gathering in the post-crisis era to discuss the core issue of determining the framework for sustainable economic growth in the world.

"The Sino-US dialogue will serve as an anchor for stabilizing the world economy which is getting out of the crisis and moving towards a relatively healthier post-crisis era," said Fu Mengzi, a researcher with the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.

US Deputy Secretary of State Jacob Lew said recently that the United States and China share common interests in safeguarding world peace, stability and prosperity, and the two sides will continue to build a positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationship in the 21st century.