A Jan 27 Pew Center report shows that more than two-thirds of the public in the US do not trust China and two-thirds also think China is a competitor of the US. That must have a lot to do with the promotion of the negative image by the US media and politicians.

Medeiros had three messages for the Chinese leaders. He said the US is strong and gaining strength at home. What he implied is that the Chinese believe the US is on the decline. While the US' relative decline due to the rise of the rest is a fact known to all, most Chinese still think their nation will have a long way to catch up with the US.

In fact, it is the US public that has shown the lowest level of economic confidence since December, according to a Gallup poll released on Tuesday, just hours before Medeiros speech.

Medeiros also wanted to remind Chinese leaders that the US is an incumbent power in East Asia. "In another word, we've been in Asia for over 60 years and we're going to be there for another 60 years and even longer afterwards," he said, clearly forgetting that China has been in Asia long before the US was even born and certainly will be in Asia as long as the planet exists. Chinese leaders have repeatedly said that the Pacific is big enough to accommodate both China and the US.

Medeiros' third message was that China and the US have far more to gain from working together to solve regional and global problems than trying to do it on their own, or from competing from each other for power and influence in Asia Pacific.

No one can argue with that. For China, such a win-win mindset has been ingrained in its population in the past 35 years of reform and opening-up.

The US, which is used to lecturing others, should do as much criticism as self-criticism, words that Medeiros should understand well as a China specialist.

The author, based in Washington DC, is deputy editor of China Daily USA. chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com