Shadow of uncertainty over Sino-US relations

China-US relations this year have been marked by competitive pressure and, to a lesser extent, cooperation. True, China's worst fear－Trump not recognizing the one-China policy and imposing 45 percent tariffs on Chinese products－did not come true. But the US has not been even half as sincere as Beijing on cooperation and mutual development.

President Xi Jinping has made more efforts to promote cooperation, including paying a state visit to the US in March and inviting Trump to pay a state visit to China in November. However, Sino-US ties seem heading toward uncertainty, because instead of responding to China's proposal of a "new type of major country relationship", the US continues to see China as a rival.

It's a pity that the US considers China's peaceful rise as a threat to its supremacy, and Trump treats politics and diplomacy as variables in bilateral and international relations.

Greater challenges have emerged owing to some of Trump's moves, which are akin to launching a trade war. The US has ordered several investigations into Chinese products－one even under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974－reflecting Trump's protectionist and unilateral stance. Within a month of Trump's visit to China when the two sides signed deals worth more than $250 billion, the US Commerce Department "self-initiated" anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations against Chinese aluminum exports.

Washington has also approached the WTO saying it does not recognize China as a market economy. And on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea nuclear issue, it has been pressuring China to choose between the US and the DPRK－a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. There is little doubt, therefore, that the US has performed poorly as a major power, casting a shadow on the future of China-US ties.

Yuan Peng, vice-president of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations