China and the US should continue progress achieved over the past 40 years to help 'build and shape the world'

The ceremony hosted by President Barack Obama for President Hu Jintao's state visit on the south lawn of the White House on Jan 19, 2011 attracted worldwide attention. Even the weather was cooperative as the clouds that had been hovering over the capital of the United States for days scattered and the sun shone.

I am one of the lucky few who attended the ceremony and saw this grand occasion with my own excited eyes, as all sorts of feelings welled up inside me.

It was Henry Kissinger's confidential visit 40 years ago that unlocked the estrangement between the US and China and started a new era in Sino-US relations. Even the most far-sighted back then never predicted the great progress Sino-US ties would make.

Dialogues at various levels are steadily on the rise with more than 60 cooperative exchange mechanisms set up. The bilateral trade value has rocketed from the $2.4 billion 40 years ago to about $380 billion now. China has been the fastest growing overseas market for US exports for many years. The US is also one of China's largest foreign investment sources and more and more enterprises from China are investing in the US. This has become the nucleus of Sino-US friendship.

The past 40 years have witnessed the historical progress of Sino-US relations from estrangement and opposition to cooperation and friendship. China and the US both gain from peaceful coexistence, and lose from conflicts. The cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual benefits, reinforced by President Hu Jintao's visit, is extremely important and timely. It is the further development of the positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationship built up by both sides in 2009. It also demonstrates the depth and width of Sino-US ties and indicates the right direction for development of Sino-US relation in the new era.

The lessons of the past 40 years remind us time and again that the development of Sino-US relations has never been smooth and they will continue to be complicated and challenging. We should cherish and protect the hard-won benefits of bilateral ties and try our best to maintain the larger interests of Sino-US relations with responsible regard for history, the world and the times. We should not let the good momentum of Sino-US relations be contained or disturbed by selfish interests or a moment of comfort.

China and the US cannot escape from disputes and divergences in their thinking because of the differences in culture and development paths. But as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton put it: China and the US are walking on different roads that lead to the same destination with a shared future and responsibilities. It is normal that some differences exist between the two countries. Even leaves growing on the same tree are different from each other. We should respect the differences and not set ourselves against each other. We should learn from each other and appreciate each other.

What impressed me during this visit was the piano duet by Chinese pianist Lang Lang and American Jazz musician Herbie Hancock at the state banquet hosted by President Obama. Their performance will be long remembered. I am confident China and the US can play a harmonious tune as long as we can join hands and stand together.

At another welcome banquet, hosted by friendly US organizations, Kissinger said emotionally that President Hu's visit to the US opened a new page in the development of Sino-US relations and the growing cooperation between China and the US would not only "shake the world", but, more importantly, also build and shape the world.

I clearly remember during the first round of the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue in 2009, State Councilor Dai Bingguo, holding a photo of his granddaughter and saying to US State Secretary Hillary Clinton that we should take responsibility for ensuring a better future for our children and our children's children.

My son is studying at middle school now. He is quite interested in international affairs and often discusses topics, such as Sino-US ties, with me. I just wonder what Sino-US relations will be like 30 years from now when the generation of my son's age stand on the south lawn of the White House.

I firmly believe that it will be a fine day with more splendid sunshine and the duet played by China and the US will be even more harmonious.

Let us continue to make joint efforts to achieve that.

The author is director of the Policy Planning Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

(China Daily 01/31/2011 page8)