Former envoy says nations must get better at defining mutual interests

Sino-US relations have experienced many cycles of ups and downs over the past four decades due to various domestic and global pressure. Now, as China is in a leadership transition, Beijing and Washington face an open door to further this critical bilateral relationship, said former US ambassador to China Jon Huntsman.

US President Barack Obama won the presidential election on Nov 6, two days before the opening of the ongoing 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, at which Beijing will complete its once-in-a-decade leadership transition and map out its major policies for the next five years.

"My biggest concern is it is not a missed opportunity," Huntsman told China Daily on Friday at his Washington residence.

"We have a re-elected US president and a new Chinese leadership, so there is an open door for both sides. It would be foolish if we don't recognize that open door and take advantage of it."

After serving as US ambassador to China from 2009 to 2011, the former Utah governor entered the race to win the Republican nomination for the US presidency.

Now, though, he works mainly in the private sector and receives many speaking invitations from universities and business organizations in the US to talk about China.

He said that Beijing has made new commitments to economic and political reforms, so the two countries should come together and freshen up their relationship for the 21st century.

"The 21st century relationship means closer collaboration, deeper trust and a renewed commitment to the issues that bring us together," he said.

Both countries need to do a better job of defining their shared interests, such as stability in the Asia-Pacific region, stronger economies in both countries, greater cooperation in the European debt crisis, and nuclear issues in Iran and the Korean Peninsula, he said.

"The most important of all is the people-to-people relationship," the former ambassador said. "Without interaction among the peoples, you don't have the foundation for deeper understanding."

China mapped out its foreign policy path last week when Hu Jintao, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, delivered the political report at the opening session of the congress. He said that China will improve relations with developed economies and continue to promote friendship and partnership with its neighbors to ensure that its development will bring them more benefits.

He also said that China is firm in its resolve to protect its sovereignty, security and developmental interests.

During Hu's state visit to the United States in 2011, the two countries released a joint statement that reaffirmed their commitment to building a positive, cooperative, and comprehensive China-US relationship for the 21st century.

Obama is not expected to change his policies on China, but will confront a more complicated situation with the country, especially in trade.

Due to the sluggish economic recovery and high unemployment, the Obama administration has been tough on China on trade issues, pressing Beijing to appreciate the renminbi and filing more WTO cases against China than during the administration of George W. Bush.

But Huntsman, a former deputy US trade representative, said he believes the two countries will work out those disputes over time.

"Our economic relationship is very new, only 40 years; it is normal to have disputes and problems," he said. "Soon our bilateral trade will be the largest in the world, and the question would be: Can we together in good faith and with trust and friendship sit down at the table and work out those issues."

For the next 10 years, he foresees that China will be a global player with new pressures, new responsibilities and new opportunities as the world experiences a rare economic and demographic transition.

How can the world's two largest economies coexist in the 21st century? The former ambassador pointed to a Chinese aphorism hanging on the wall of his residence -huxiang bangmang, huxiang xuexi, gongtong jinbu - which means helping each other, learning from other each and progressing together.

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