Editorial: History Hands Xi, Trump a Golden Opportunity

The first face-to-face meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump on April 6 and 7 will have profound political, economic and military implications for the world, especially the Western Pacific.

The talks at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort echo President Xi's 2013 visit with then-President Barack Obama at the Sunnylands estate in California, three months after the Chinese leader took office. The meeting between Xi and Trump should similarly serve as an opportunity for the world’s two largest economic powers to cement mutual understanding, foster mutual interests and set aside disagreements.

The meeting is crucial as both countries strive to tackle mounting challenges. President Trump and his administration have encountered setbacks at home for his controversial policies and unusual moves since his inauguration. He has failed to pass a Republican replacement for Obamacare, seen courts block his travel ban on citizens from six predominately Muslim nations and become mired in congressional investigations into interference by Russia in the November election and any potential ties between it and the Trump team.

Trump also faces difficult international issues such as how to promote stability in the Middle East, fight ISIS and reset U.S.-Russia relations.

China is also facing challenges to deal with its economic slowdown, rising risks in its financial system, and associated social issues. The country holds a major political event this year–the Communist Party’s 19th National Congress–to unveil a new leadership lineup and continues its work to promote the One Belt, One Road initiative to enhance foreign ties.

Against such a backdrop, a stable Sino-U.S. relationship would benefit both countries.

Four years ago, President Xi and Obama met at a delicate time, as the rise of China pushed forward a rebalancing of global power and tested the bilateral relationship. Now, the meeting of Xi and Trump is facing even more complexities.

The complexities partly come from the unpredictability of the Trump administration. Since entering the Oval Office, President Trump has disturbed the Chinese by an unorthodox telephone call with Taiwan’s leader Tsai Ing-wen and repeated his earlier China bashing on trade and currency issues. In February, however, President Trump made a commitment to honor the one-China policy in his first telephone conversation with his Chinese counterpart. That commitment prevented the U.S.-China relationship from unraveling further and was the premise of the upcoming meeting between the two heads of state.

Since the 2013 Xi-Obama California meeting, many issues of concern to both sides haven’t been solved, such as global economic recovery, tensions on the Korean Peninsula, cybersecurity and territorial disputes in the Asia-Pacific region. Instead, some issues, especially the North Korea nuclear issue, have only worsened. Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s pullback from globalization and efforts to tackle climate change has left Washington and Beijing with shrinking common ground.

These lingering and pressing issues underscore the significance as well as the stakes of the Xi-Trump meeting within Trump’s first 100 days in office, and whether it will lead to improved U.S.-China relations.

There are positive signs in the relationship. In a recent meeting in Beijing with President Xi, U.S. Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson stated that “the U.S. side is ready to develop relations with China based on the principle of no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect, and win-win cooperation,” echoing President Xi’s concept of “a new type of Great Power relations.” MXi told Mr. Tillerson that the two countries could be good partners, and as long as both sides maintained this common understanding, ties would proceed “in the right way.”

Despite differences, there is still much common ground for the China-U.S. partnership, the most important of which is the $519.6 billion worth of bilateral trade in goods. Despite the Trump administration's tough talk on trade, the China market is of great importance to the U.S. economy. In 2015, the U.S.-China trade relationship supported about 2.6 million jobs in the U.S. and saved an average U.S household up to $850 due to cheaper consumer goods, according to a report by the US-China Business Council released in January.

At the same time, China should step up opening its markets to adapt to the new global economic environment. For instance, one American economist highlighted the issue of auto tariffs to Chinese leaders during a March meeting in Beijing. Chinese automobile exports to the U.S. are levied almost no tariff and Chinese auto companies can freely establish plants in the U.S. In contrast, China charges a 25% import tariff on U.S. cars and sets various rules regarding auto joint ventures. These rules were reasonable when the Chinese economy was at a fledging stage. But China is the world’s second-largest economy, so the rules need to be changed, according to the economist. In fact, such changes would also benefit China’s domestic reforms.

But of course Sino-U.S. ties transcend the bilateral relationship to affect a broad range of issues, in particular regarding the Korea Peninsula and the South China Sea. If the two countries can’t maintain sound interaction--or even see a decline in their relationship-- it will not only hurt China’s ambition to push forward the One Belt, One Road initiative, but will feed speculation that conflicts will emerge between the world’s leading power, the U.S., and rising power, China.

The future of Sino-U.S. relations—the most important bilateral relationship in the world--depends on both sides. For China, continuing its reform efforts and sticking to its commitment to keep opening up its economy to the world will help expand China-U.S. mutual interests and maintain the long-term stability of its relationship with the U.S. That in turn will nurture a peaceful and stable international environment that will benefit China’s future development. Therefore, President Xi and President Trump should set their sights for the meeting on ensuring not just a healthy bilateral relationship for the next four years, but also far beyond.

Hu Shuli is the editor-in-chief of Caixin Media.