Let’s hope the May summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping is uplifting, giving the world hope that these great powers can cooperate for the common good. The global community is distraught and fatigued with the wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Iran and the sense that war has now become accepted behavior.
The summit of the U.S. and China is an opportunity to change the narrative and instill hope that these two great powers can work through the many issues that divide us and focus on the issues that can lead to the betterment of mankind.
The summit will be an opportunity to discuss a myriad of economic and trade issues that continue to be an irritant in the bilateral relationship: The U.S. trade imbalance with China; industrial subsidies China provides to state-owned enterprises and cheap financing from state banks; U.S. restricted exports to China of advanced semiconductors and chipmaking equipment and AI-related technologies; Intellectual Property theft by China and industrial espionage; U.S. tariffs and de-risking efforts with rare earths, batteries and pharmaceuticals; U.S. investment restrictions and China’s efforts to keep the yuan undervalued to boost exports; and U.S. human rights-related trade restrictions and sanctions on Chinese companies.
China has strong views on each of these issues, accusing the U.S. of economic containment. As major economic competitors, these and other related issues can and should be addressed routinely, in diplomatic and trade negotiations. Indeed, these economic and trade issues can and should be mentioned and discussed at the summit but left to the diplomats and trade negotiators to resolve during routine annual meetings in Beijing and Washington.
What the world needs to hear is how the U.S. and China can cooperate to end wars and make the world more inhabitable.
Indeed, conflict resolutions should be high on the list of issues to discuss. Ensuring that we do not have a repeat of the Belgrade Embassy bombing of 1999 (when the U.S. accidentally bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade) and former President Jiang Zemin refusing to take with President Bill Clinton’s calls to apologize; or the EP-3 incident of 2001 ( a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft collided with a Chinese jet in international airspace, killing the Chinese pilot) when President Jiang Zemin would not take the calls from former President George W. Bush who wanted to apologize for the incident and request the release of the U.S. crew being held in Hainan Island.
We cannot have a repeat of these two tragic events. It is important that our leaders communicate in a timely and secure manner, to ensure that incidents of this type do not escalate. The hotline between our military leaders is equally important, to avoid inadvertent escalation and potential conflict.
The Cipher Brief applies expert-level context to national and global security stories. Grant yourself full-access to Cipher Brief expert insights, analysis and private briefings in the new year by becoming a Subscriber+Member.
Taiwan and the South China Sea are issues requiring immediate presidential attention. These are issues that can escalate quickly and potentially lead to conflict and war. The U.S. Taiwan Relations Act of 1999 clearly states that the issue of Taiwan should be resolved peacefully between the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan, while the U.S. provides Taiwan with arms of a defensive character. Mr. Xi has said he wants a peaceful resolution of issues with Taiwan, but China, he said, is prepared to use military force if necessary. The recent meeting of Taiwan’s opposition leader, Cheng Li-wun, Chairman of Taiwan’s Kuomintang (KMT) with Mr. Xi on April 10 was the first meeting in a decade with Mr. Xi, who has increased military pressure around Taiwan and sees reunification with Taiwan as an important part of his legacy.
The South China Sea is a potential flash point between China and the U.S. Island-building activity by China has been found illegal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Between 2013 and 2015, China engaged in extensive land reclamation in the Spratly Islands, building artificial islands in areas claimed by the Philippines and Vietnam. An arbitral tribunal ruled in 2016 that China was in violation of UNCLOS. But China persists, insisting – based on dated maps going back to the Qing Dynasty – that China has sovereignty of the South China Sea Islands. The U.S. position is that China’s claim to sovereignty of the South China Seas islands is unlawful and freedom of the seas is consistent with international law.
Discussing Taiwan and the South China Seas is necessary, to avoid conflict that could develop into a war. But these are long-established points of conflict that require close and continued diplomatic and military dialogue with Beijing. A two-day leadership session in Beijing likely will not resolve either of these contentious issues. But continued dialogue is necessary.
What the people would like to see from this summit is how the U.S. and China are prepared to cooperate to resolve conflicts and wars and how the U.S. and China plan to cooperate on global issues requiring immediate attention: Global pandemics, global warming, nuclear proliferation, biosecurity, counterterrorism, counternarcotics, counter international organized crime, and other issues requiring attention.
The May summit between the leaders of the U.S. and China is an opportunity to show the world that two great powers can coexist peacefully and cooperate to make the world a better place for mankind.
The author is a former associate director of national intelligence. All statements of fact, opinion or analysis are those of the author and do not reflect the official positions or views of the U.S. government. Nothing in the contents should be construed as asserting or implying U.S. government authentication of information or endorsement of the author’s views.
This article was originally published in The Washington Times and is republished here with permission from the author.
