US, China's 'trust deficit' examined

A key hang-up in the development of political ties between China and the US is the notion of trust between the countries, according to a panel of experts assembled by the Asia Society on Thursday.

Elizabeth Economy, director for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), said the different backgrounds brought to the table by leaders on both sides inform the decision-making process going forward.

"We do have a 'trust deficit,'" Economy said. "Trust requires clarity of intention, some predictability of action, perhaps maybe a willingness to give before you take, but if you think about the US-China relationship you have almost none of those things unfortunately."

"Despite an overarching sense of common objectives, we bring different priorities, policies and values to the table," Economy said Thursday. "Those differences produce some very different approaches. Rather than putting more stress on the bilateral relationship, we need to de-stress the relationship."

Zha Daojiong, a professor of international political economy at Peking University, said a dialogue about trust is a good building block for future conversations.

"The very fact that we are talking about trust as being important in US-China relations reflects the depth of the relationship," Zha said. "It's kind of like the chicken-and-egg question, is trust first or cooperation? I have confidence in the relationship, but there's a natural propensity for Americans and Chinese to love and hate one another - all while getting things done."

China scholars Economy and Zha joined fellow foreign policy expert Nina Hachigian to examine the association between China and the United States in the context of global development on Thursday night at the Asia Society headquarters in New York.

The event, titled, Competition or Cooperation? China and the US Around the Globe, brought together members of the Asia Society and other interested parties for a discussion of the current state of affairs between China and the US.

Conversation at Thursday's event built off of the panelists' contributions to Hachigian's recently released book, Debating China: The US-China Relationship in Ten Conversations, and touched on a number of topics including, climate change, regional security in Asia and economic development.

In her book, Hachigian pairs leading scholars from the US and China in dialogues about the most crucial elements of US-China interactions.

"You are going to have differences that are not going to go away easily," Hachigian said Thursday. "The answer to the question that motivates our panel tonight, competition or cooperation, is easy on the one hand - it's both. Ultimately ... understanding is not enough."

Zha, who has a doctorate in Political Science from the University of Hawaii, points to expectations as a key variable in the equation affecting the US and China.

"Americans don't want to be surprised," Zha said. "Today the difference if you look at trust or the lack of it is we are more aware of the consequences. The greatest challenge in this relationship is expectation management."

jackfreifelder@chinadailyusa.com