China News Service, February 24. According to Taiwan's "United Times" report, in February 1972, on the last day of US President Nixon's visit to China, China and the US officially signed the first joint communique between the two countries in Shanghai ("Shanghai"). Bulletin).
On November 16, 2021, in a video summit with President Biden, President Xi Jinping proposed that the two sides should "mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation."
Rereading the "Shanghai Communiqué" 50 years ago, I realize that this document fully embodies these three important principles.
First of all, the "Shanghai Communiqué" reflects that the basis of Sino-US exchanges is "mutual respect".
"Mutual respect" is manifested in the understanding, tolerance and acceptance of differences between the two countries, including social systems, ideologies, cultural history and development paths.
Only when the leaders of China and the United States stand at an important historical juncture in human development can they open the door to exchanges by assessing the situation, with a broad mind and seeking common ground while reserving differences to the greatest extent possible.
In the negotiation process of the Shanghai Communiqué, understanding and considering each other's interests and demands is also a manifestation of "mutual respect".
When negotiating the most difficult Taiwan issue, the two sides negotiated repeatedly, and finally formed the position statement in the "Shanghai Communiqué", that is, the US side has no objection to "all Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait believe that there is only one China and Taiwan is a part of China" , and confirmed "the ultimate goal of withdrawing all U.S. armed forces and military installations from Taiwan."
The establishment of this position laid the political foundation for the formal establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the subsequent decades of relations.
In recent years, the United States has changed its perception of China, viewing China as a "strategic competitor" and turning Taiwan into a tool for the United States to compete with China.
The United States has increased official exchanges with Taiwan, helped Taiwan expand its "international space", provided weapons and equipment, and strengthened military cooperation. The basic position expressed in the Communiqué has also shaken the foundation of bilateral relations for half a century.
The future of Sino-US relations depends to a large extent on whether the consensus on the Taiwan issue in the Shanghai Communiqué can be upheld, and whether each other's interests can be fully understood and respected.
Second, the "Shanghai Communiqué" established the way of "peaceful coexistence" between China and the United States.
The two sides agreed to implement the five principles of "peaceful coexistence" in their mutual relations "regardless of the social system"; expressed a common desire to "reduce the danger of international military conflict"; and pledged not to seek hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region.
A consensus on "peaceful coexistence" helps to dispel fears about the prospect of war.
China has embarked on the road of reform and opening up, initiated economic take-off and social reform, and has become an important force in promoting world peace and development.
The United States, on the other hand, ended the Vietnam War, bridged domestic political rifts, and after the Cold War became the only superpower with superior power.
The peaceful coexistence of China and the United States has also laid the foundation for bilateral cooperation to maintain world peace.
China and the United States have conducted fruitful cooperation in traditional and non-traditional security fields such as maintaining the international non-proliferation regime (NPT), combating global terrorism, maintaining sea lane security, mediating international conflicts, implementing international peacekeeping operations, and addressing climate change.
However, on the question of who is seeking hegemony, the cognitive gap between China and the United States is gradually widening.
In the United States' view, China's economic boom and military modernization challenge its position as the world's number one.
China's safeguarding of territorial and maritime rights and interests is coercing its neighbors and disrupting the order; China's proposal of the "Belt and Road" initiative is a geo-strategic expansion; China's cooperation with developing countries is to use the "Chinese model" against the "Western model"; Safeguarding national interests and advancing the modernization of the military is a threat to regional peace and stability.
In short, China has a long-term strategic goal of competing with the United States for hegemony and eventually replacing it.
The US speculates on China's strategic intentions, which has led to the zero-sum of interest assessment and the confrontation of policy behavior.
And China's original intention is to let its people live a better life, not to seek hegemony.
The recent two U.S. administrations have carried out economic suppression, military containment and diplomatic isolation of China, which has greatly squeezed the space for cooperation, increased friction and confrontation points, and damaged the world’s two important countries, the two largest economies, and the two nuclear-weapon states. stability and peace between them.
Third, the "Shanghai Communiqué" reflects the pursuit of "win-win cooperation" between China and the United States.
Fifty years ago, the resumption of exchanges between China and the United States had geostrategic considerations and security needs to cooperate against common enemies.
To this end, military cooperation is given priority attention and development.
In the 1980s, high-level delegations of the two militaries exchanged visits frequently, the counterpart defense departments had in-depth exchanges, and military-technical cooperation continued to expand.
With the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the motivation for military cooperation has declined; and the US's connivance of Taiwan independence forces has seriously eroded the military mutual trust between the two sides.
It can be seen from the "Shanghai Communiqué" that China and the United States have been actively exploring various cooperation possibilities since the beginning of their exchanges. A consensus has been reached on specific cooperation such as "equal and mutually beneficial economic relations" and "maintaining contacts through different channels".
The history of the past 50 years has fully demonstrated that cooperation-led approach is conducive to seeking common ground while reserving differences, removing obstacles and achieving results.
At the same time, the two sides also believed that a good Sino-US relationship is the expectation of the world. "The normalization of relations between the two countries not only serves the interests of the Chinese and American people, but also contributes to easing tensions in Asia and the world."
For half a century, despite the ups and downs of Sino-US relations, they have always been on the track of cooperation.
China opposes the recent two US administrations simply using "great power competition" to define Sino-US relations, and believes that this is a negative interaction model derived from zero-sum logic, which goes against the world trend and does not conform to the spirit of the times.
If the interaction is dominated by "competition", not only the two sides will suffer, but also global development and peace will be endangered; while if the interaction is dominated by "cooperation", not only the two countries will benefit, but also the Asia-Pacific and the whole world.
On the occasion of the commemoration of the release of the Shanghai Communiqué, we hope that China and the United States can regain the original intention of melting ice 50 years ago, follow the three principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, and promote the steady and long-term development of China-US relations.
(The author is Yao Yunzhu, academic committee member of the Center for Strategy and Security Research, Tsinghua University)