A strong and special relationship

China is committed to resolving the DPRK nuclear issue peacefully through dialogue and negotiation, and Beijing and Washington will carry out further consultations over the DPRK nuclear issue when Deputy Secretary of State William Joseph Burns visits China and other countries in the region from April 22 to 29, with the focus on discussing the DPRK issue.

To maintain long-term stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia two procedures are essential: one is the process of denuclearization and the other is to make the DPRK integrate into the regional and international community. With concerted efforts and perseverance the DPRK nuclear issue can be resolved.

Kerry did not mention the US' strategy of rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific when he was in Beijing, but he made it clear in Japan that the Obama administration will continue to implement the strategy.

However, the rebalancing has caused widespread concern as the US has put too much emphasis on military factors while carrying out its strategic shift, and it has released some fuzzy and even self-contradictory information that has caused various interpretations and adverse reactions in Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.

As a result there have been signs that the Obama administration is willing to rebalance the rebalancing strategy, and Kerry said during his trip that if the DPRK abandons its nuclear weapons program, the US will reduce its missile defense forces in Asia.

During Obama's first term, the leaders of the two countries reached a consensus on establishing a cooperative partnership and agreed to the goal of building a new type of great power relations. As both Chinese and US leaders attach great importance to bilateral relations the two sides should carry forward this consensus and further enrich its content.

Sino-US economic and trade relations are the most powerful proof of the win-win and interdependent nature of bilateral relations. But the good momentum that has been achieved has also encountered some obstacles because some people in the US always want to politicize the relationship and Washington has been maintaining restrictions on high-tech exports to China. Now Obama has begun his second term and vowed to expand exports, it is high time for Washington to ease restrictions on high-tech exports to China, as this would provide a big boost to trade relations.

The author is a senior researcher with the Center for US-China Relations at Tsinghua University.

(China Daily 04/18/2013 page8)