China and the U.S. Need to See Eye to Eye

Writing for the Guardian on September 23, 2015, Asia Society Policy Institute President Kevin Rudd argues that the U.S. and China share a “maximum desire for stability” that should compel them to agree on a new strategic narrative for their relationship.

As President Xi Jinping begins his first state visit to the United States, something of a potentially dangerous trend is beginning to emerge in the US-China relationship. There are now a number of influential voices on both sides who believe that the problems in the relationship are so numerous, so profound and so unmanageable that they are starting to overwhelm the post-1972 strategic consensus and are threatening to end a quarter-century of Sino-American goodwill. [...]

The uncomfortable truth for the growing legions of strategic hawks in both capitals is that the deep disagreements that do exist are solvable. Recent reports of tentative progress in the development of a new joint “cyber-security” regime represent a significant case in point.

But to do that, the two sides need to agree on a new common strategic narrative to govern the future of their relationship. Both their publics need an organising principle that is able to preserve long-term strategic stability, notwithstanding the issues of the day.

Read the full op-ed.