Preface[1]

Jia Qingguo

In February 2012, the then Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping proposed that China and the U.S.should work together to construct a new type of great power relations[2]during his visit to the United States.In response, the U.S.President Obama repeatedly expressed the view that just as the prosperity of the U.S.is good for China, China's rise is good for the U.S..The U.S.welcomes a strong, stable and prosperous China.As leadership transition of the two countries has completed, how China and the U.S.are going to manage their relationship has drawn increasing domestic and international attention.

What is the new type of great power relations? What does it mean? How is it different from the traditional type of great power relations? Does the new type of great power relations only apply to relations between China and the U.S.or does it also apply to relations between China and other major powers? Between China and the U.S., there is a huge difference in historical experience, cultural tradition, political system and other aspects.Against this background, is building a new type of great power relations between the two countries realistic? What should the two countries do in building a new type of great power relations?

To explore these and other questions, the international relations section of the Beijing Forum held between November 5 and 7, 2013 invited more than 40 scholar and experts in international politics from both in and outside China to express their views.For two and half days, participants in the conference engaged in heated and in-depth discussion on issues that range from theory to practice and from China-U.S.bilateral relations to their interactions over various aspects of global governance.This volume includes some of the best papers presented at the forum.

What is a new type of great power relations? According to Dr.Da Wei, research fellow of the Institute of Contemporary International Relations, the new type of great power relations is a relationship that is characterized by no confrontation, no conflict, mutual respect, and win-win through cooperation.It can be obtained at two levels.At the first level is no conflict and no confrontation, with neither hot war nor cold war.At the second level is mutual respect and win-win through cooperation.Participants of the conference did not challenge this interpretation.

Does the concept of new type of great power relations only apply to China-U.S.relations or does it also apply to China's relations with other major countries? Chinese have different views on this.Some think that it should apply only to China-U.S.relations whereas others believe that it should also apply to China's relations with other major countries.Although participants in the conference did not debate on this question, when they talked about the new type of great power relations, they only referred to China-U.S.relations.The reason is actually quite simple.The concept was first proposed by Xi Jinping when he visited the U.S.in 2012 when he served as China's Vice President.And he proposed the concept primarily because he believed that the China-U.S.relationship is quite unique, that is, it is a relationship between the hegemonic country and a rising country.Because in history the hegemonic country and the rising country often ended up in military confrontation and war, because conflict and war are against the interest of both the hegemonic country and the rising country, Xi believes that the U.S.and China should develop a new type of great power relations to avoid confrontation and seek a win-win situation through cooperation.Of course, China should also avoid confrontation and seek a win-win relationship with other major countries through cooperation.However, there is a huge difference in meaning and significance between managing relations between a hegemonic power and a rising power on the one hand and that between major countries.

Judged by the new type of great power relations, how should we assess the current state of China-U.S.relations? According to Dr.Dawei, at the moment, China and the U.S.have already realized the goal of no conflict and no confrontation.However, there is much to work on to realize the new type of great power relations, such as consolidating economic interdependence between the two countries, maintaining strategic stability in military and nuclear weapons spheres so as to reassure each other at the strategic level, and jointly participating in reforms of the existing international institutions.Professor Zhao Suisheng, Director of the Center for the U.S.-China Cooperation of the University of Denver, also shares this view.He said that the purpose of China's advocacy of new type of great power relations is to display its good will.However, there is a long way to go for the idea to be put into practice.Professor Dai Xingyue of Peking University pointed out that the U.S.practice of siding with China's neighbors in the maritime disputes and spying throughout the world are incompatible with building a new type of great power relations between China and the U.S..

Why does China stress the need to develop a new type of great power relations? Mr.Kevin Rudd, former Australian Prime Minister, believes that it is to respond to “a strategic shift”in China-U.S.relations.He said ideational factors such as values, ways of thinking and cognition to a significant extent influence the policy choices of the Chinese and American leaders.The aim of building a new type of great power relations is to shape the ways of thinking and cognition of both Chinese and American leaders in a way that facilitates the healthy development of the relations between the two countries.Professor Wang Jisi, President of the Institute of International Strategic Studies of Peking University, said that mutual mistrust, ideological difference, difference in political system, and uncertainty about the future pose obstacles to the development of the relationship.One important consideration in China's proposal of buidling a new type of great power relations is to overcome these obstacles.

Other participants also came up with their own explanations.Professor Hao Yufan, Dean of the School of Social Sciences of the University of Macau, said that the principal reason for China to come up with the concept of a new type of great power relations is to address the concerns about China's rapid rise on the part of the outside world, especially the United States.Mr.Andrei I.Kortunov, Secretary General of the Russian International Affairs Council, pointed out that proliferation of unstable factors in the international system has reached to a point that is beyond control and may lead to war.Stability between major powers depends on how to regulate the international system and to take up responsibility to control conflicts.The new type of great power relations China advocates is aimed at preventing China and the U.S.from repeating the great power conflicts in history.Professor Xu Xin, acting Director of the China and the Asia-Pacific Program of Cornell University, said that the China-U.S.agreement on building a new type of great power relations reflects their deep understanding of the tragedy of great power politic in history, sensitivity to the on-and-off signs of China-U.S.strategic confrontation, and the shared hope that the two countries can avoid the “Thucydides trap”in the future.

Because of the difference in historical experience, cultural tradition, political system and other aspects between China and the U.S., is it possible for the two countries to build a new type of great power relations against the backdrop of rapid rise of China? Professor Jia Qingguo, Dean of the School of International Studies of Peking University, argued that it is possible both as a historical possibility, for instance, the U.S.-Britain relations when the U.S.rose during the latter part of the 19th century and a present necessity.Professor Zheng Yongnian, Director of the East Asia Institute of the National University of Singapore also believes it is possible.He pointed out that this is in the best interests of both countries.He argued that the high level of interdependence between China and the U.S.is the driving force behind their search for a new type of great power relations.Looking to the future, China is unlikely to overthrow the existing international order, neither is it likely to follow the footsteps of the former Soviet Union to withdraw from the existing international order and establish another one.Professor Hao Yufan argued that between China and the U.S., there is already a good basis on which to build a new type of great power relations.The emergence of the nuclear weapons and globalization has changed the way major powers interact through drastically raising the cost of conflicts.Although China and the U.S.need to build trust between them, the history of interactions between the two countries at bilateral, regional and international levels since the normalization of their relations in 1979 shows that the two countries are capable of engaging in cooperation and managing their differences.Professor Ding Dou of Peking University also argued that because of the deterring effect of nuclear weapons, it is almost impossible and hardly imaginable that major powers would engage in military confrontation.

Professor Michael Glosny of the U.S.Naval Graduate School pointed out that, despite the strategic mistrust between China and the U.S., there are positive signs in the relationship in recent years.These include: greater depth of cooperation on the North Korea nuclear weapons question, substantial increase in military to military relations, new bright spots in economic cooperation, especially the initiation of the talks on bilateral investment treaty, establishment of a number of mechanisms to manage competition and prevent conflicts, closer cooperation in global mechanisms and governance, joint exploration of the possibility of reforms of the existing international order, the U.S.public statements to the effect that it welcomes a strong, prosperous China, and China's public statements welcoming the U.S.to play a constructive role in the Asia Pacific region.These positive developments favor China-U.S.efforts to build a new type of great power relations.

Fan Jishe, senior research fellow of the Institute of American Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, argued that favorable conditions for building a new type of great power relations exist, but the challenges are also daunting.He pointed out that both China and the U.S.have nuclear weapons; both need to cope with regional and global challenges; economies of the two countries are interdependent; these plus the peaceful international environment constitute the four pillars of strategic stability of China and the U.S..However, mutual suspicion, realist fatalism, China's military modernization, the U.S.strategy of rebalance to the Asia-Pacific, and the hedging strategies of the two countries together also present serious challenges to maintaining strategic stability between China and the U.S..

Some scholars believe that whether China and the U.S.can build a new type of great power relations depends on certain conditions.Professor Zhang Xiaoming of the School of International Studies of Peking University, for example, outlined three conditions: the first is whether the U.S.can really accept China playing certain roles as a major country in the world; the second is whether the international society can accept China to a role as a major country in shaping and reforming the existing international order; the third is whether China persuade the international society to accept its strategic behavior.He argued that it is still not clear that these conditions can be met.Professor Su Changhe of Fudan University argued that for China and the U.S.to build a new type of great power relations, it is essential that three sets of relations are properly managed: the first is how China and the U.S.can ensure they can develop together; the second is how China and the U.S.on the one hand and China's small neighbors on the other hand can ensure they can develop together; the third is how to ensure peaceful coexistence between different civilizations.

Professor Christian Tuschhoff of the Free University of Berlin outlined the conditions of China-U.S.cooperation from still another perspective.He pointed out that, from a realist perspective, only when both countries are satisfied with relative gains can they peacefully manage their relations properly; from a liberal perspective, only when both countries are satisfied with absolute gains can they ensure cooperation and resolve conflicts; from a domestic politics perspective, only when both countries are endorsed by core domestic interest groups can they maintain cooperative relations.

Mr.Masahiro Sakamoto，Vice President of the Japan Forum of Strategic Studies, views China-U.S.relations from an international system perspective.He argued that realization of a new type of great power relations depends largely on how much China can accept the current international system.If China just wishes to raise its status and influence within the system, it is possible to build a new type of great power relations.However, if China wants to set up an international system which it dominates, that would be very difficult.

Although Professor Kitti Prasirtsuk of Thammasat University of Thailand did not reject the possibility of China and U.S.building a new type of great power relations, he argued that the chance for that to happen is small.In contrast, the chance for China and the U.S.to end up in a cold war is much higher.Proceeding from the perspective of mutual dependence and identity, he analyzed the relationship between the U.S.relations with Great Britain, the former USSR, and China respectively.He found that despite the fact that U.S.relations with all these three countries are highly interdependent, power transition between the U.S.and Britain was peaceful because they share a similar identity; power transition between the U.S.and the former USSR ended up in a cold war because they did not share a similar identity; accordingly, since China and the U.S.do not share a similar identity, the chance for their relationship to evolve into a cold war is pretty high.

Similarly, Professor Lee Geun-Wook of the Sogang University of Republic of Korea expressed his pessimism on the prospect of China-U.S.building a new type of great power relations from still another angle.He argued that although the economies of China and the U.S.are so interdependent that they are unlikely to fight a war between them, these two countries have been busy preparing for the worst.China wants to push the U.S.out of East Asia through a strategy that resists and rejects the U.S.access to the region.In response, the U.S.proposes the “air sea battle”concept and develops it into a strategy of combined operation in which military capabilities feature quite large.Under the circumstances, the security dilemma problem worsens over time.

Unlike previous participants, some participants believe that it will take quite some time for the power transition between China and the U.S.to reach a critical stage.Therefore, it is too early to discuss whether the two countries can develop a new type of great power relations now.After sketching the significant gaps between China and the U.S.in capabilities in economy, military, science and technology, and the soft power, Professor Han Zhaoying of Nankai University, for example, argues that the power transition between China and the U.S.is at a very early stage and it will take some time for it to reach the most dangerous period proposed by the power transition theory, that is, the period of power proximity.Professor James Tang, Dean of the School of Social Sciences of the Singapore Management University, also argued that the China-U.S.power transition in East Asia will be a long and complicated process.It may be too early to discuss about it now.

How should China and the U.S.build a new type of great power relations? Mr.Kevin Rudd suggested that the two countries should enhance communication and increase cooperation at strategic, economic and institutional levels and work together to promote peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.Professor Dai Xingyue of Peking University argued that the new type of great power relations both demands the U.S.to give China sufficient respect and treats China on a equal basis and requires China to respect and take care of the reasonable concerns of the U.S..Relations between the two countries can be stable only on the basis of mutual respect and understanding and the two countries can only realize win-win through cooperation on bilateral, regional and global issues on that basis.

Professor Jia Qingguo pointed out that because the chance of conflict between the rising power and the existing one is high, the future of China-U.S.relations is still full of uncertainties.The two countries should seize the moment to undertake necessary measures to translate the concept of a new type of great power relations into reality.Specifically, the two countries should prioritize the following five issues for cooperation: economic relations, military exchanges, cyber security, Korean nuclear problem, and climate change.Mr.Patrick Cronin,Senior Advisor and Senior Director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, argued that the core of building a new type of great power relations between China and the U.S.is to avoid strategic competition, deepen strategic dialogue, and enhance strategic cooperation.Specifically, he stressed that the two countries should enhance dialogue and cooperation on nonproliferation, maritime disputes, cyber security, and space security.

In addition to the previous questions, participants also explored other issues related to China-U.S.building a new type of great power relations.From a perspective of global political transition, Professor Barry Buzan pointed out that the historical background against which China rises is very different from that in the 19th century.Between the late 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, the great powers that rose were mostly western countries and a few countries were able to control and dominate the world.Today, power diffuses with the rise of a cluster of non-western countries and thereby dashes the possibility of the monopoly of power by a few great powers.In the mean time, convergence in ideology, “de-centering”of the international system, increasing activeness of the international civil society, and the growing commonalities of public policy among countries, these developments present both opportunities and challenges to China-U.S.building a new type of great power politics.

Professor Frederick Logevall of Cornell University pointed out that from the founding of the U.S.the belief in American exeption has deeply affected the various aspects of American society and has become an instrument for politicians to rally public support.This is the case for the U.S.founding fathers and also the case for President Obama.However, ideas like “freedom empire”, “City Upon a hill”, “leader of the free world”, “indispensible country”, or even “the doctrine of American superiority”actually have many problems.The U.S.exceptionalism is also an important variable for analyzing China-U.S.building a new type of great power relations.

Professor You Ji of the University of New South Wales of Australia argued that the “rebalance strategy”of the Obama Administration presents both challenges and opportunities to efforts to build a new type of great power relations between China and the U.S..He pointed out that all the issues what Chinese see as its “core interests”are not the core interests of the U.S.and vice versa.In essence, the U.S.“pivot to Asia”has led to more efforts to hedge against China rather than containing it.

Professor Sun Xuefeng of Tsinghua University analyzed the impact of what he calls the hierarchical system of northeast Asia on the rise of China.He argued that in the international system of northeast Asia the U.S.provides security guarantees to its allies and thereby makes it a hierarchical one.China, North Korea, and Vietnam are the self-help states.The stability of northeast Asia depends to a large extent on how the U.S.-led military alliances manage their relationship with the self-help states, especially that with the rising China.

Professor Manjari Miller of the Boston University of the U.S.noted that since 2005, Chinese Government, scholars and think tanks have conducted much discussion about China's rise and its implications for the rest of the world.This shows that Chinese are very much concerned about how the outside world views China.However, In India, a similar rising power, its government, scholars and think tanks rarely talk about the rise of India and its implications for the rest of the world.Just as in the case of China, when the U.S.rose between 1890 and 1913, American Government and scholars were also very much conscious that it was rising and it would have a significant impact on the international order.From a perspective of the role ideas play, it may be normal for a rising power to discuss the change in its identity and its implications to the outside world.

Professor Paul Evans of the University of the British Columbia of Canada explored the issue of “responsibility to protect”.He pointed out that, essentially the principle of “responsibility to protect”is to protect the life and basic human rights of the innocent civilians caught in military conflicts and civil war and prevent massive barbarian and brutal acts against civilians from happening.He said that during the past fifteen years, China's attitude toward the principle has witnessed positive changes.China has stood for the principle of non-interference and opposed military intervention in domestic affairs of sovereign states.However, confronted with the tragedies of genocide and killings of civilians in certain countries, such kind of principle often leads to inaction and thereby greater tragedy.China's behavior on the question of Libya and the Syrian crisis, especially its proactive efforts to protect innocent civilians from war atrocities shows that it is taking up the responsibility of a great power.The conceptually change on the part of China on this question helps facilitate cooperation between China and the U.S.on specific international and regional hot issues and introduce substance into its efforts to build a new type of great power relations with the U.S..

Professor Sebastian Heilmann of the Mercator Institute for China Studies of Germany argued that, as the world's biggest economy, Europe is an important partner of China and the U.S.on security, trade and investment.It has played an important role in building a China-U.S.consensus and enhancing trilateral cooperation between Europe, the U.S.and China.At present, the world is confronted with financial crisis, trade barriers, climate change, regional instability, violent extremism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and transnational crimes.Against this background, it is the responsibility of Europe, the U.S.and China to work together to address these challenges.

Professor emeritus Joseph Anthony Camilleri of the La Trobe University of Australia pointed out that the international balance of power has experienced substantial changes during the past few years.The center of gravity of the world's economy has been shifting from the west (the U.S.and Europe) to the east (Asia).The gap in political influence and economic clout between China and the U.S.has been narrowing.Meanwhile, the world is becoming more closely knit with the capital, goods, information and disease moving across national boundaries at an unprecedented pace and scope.Against this background, how to deal with these fundamental challenges? Can China play a constructive leadership role in the new world order? Will Confucianism and Daoism provide the necessary cultural, intellectual, and political support? Will China be able to work together with the international society to build appropriate regional and global mechanisms to encourage cooperation between different countries and cultures? Professor Camilleri expressed the view that China has a large population, occupies a special geostrategic location, and has a growing economy with increasing financial influence.More importantly, Chinese civilization is extremely resourceful.Therefore, China will play a critical role in shaping the new world order.At the moment, China has already been playing an increasing role in world affairs.

Professor Seung-Youn Oh of the Bryn Mawr College of the U.S.argued that China has complied with WTO rules according to its national interests.This is a practice of what she called convenient compliance.In order to realize its domestic developmental goals, China makes good use of the loopholes of the WTO rules and formulates industrial policies in favor of its own economic development and business interests just like other countries.China only revokes these policies when there is trade friction.She claimed that the Chinese practice is “strategic violation”.By the time China revokes these policies, China's goals have already been realized and do not need these policies any more.As a result, China wins praises for complying with the WTO rules.This is how China defends its interests under the WTO framework.

The atmosphere of the conference was both intense and harmonious.Scholars and audience actively participated in discussion.Some of the questions and comments were very challenging, enlightening and thought-provoking.In general, participants shared the view that there is a need to put substance to the efforts to build a new type of great power relations, so as to stabilize China-U.S.relations, promote Asia-Pacific peace, and enhance dialogue and peaceful coexistence between difference civilizations.In the mean time, they argued that China and the U.S.need to enhance cooperation on global governance, especially in such areas as addressing the problems of global economic stagnation, increasing energy security, fighting terrorism, reversing climate change, and protecting the global “commons”.Cooperation on these issues is not only helpful to provide substance to efforts to build a China-U.S.new type of great power relations, but also facilitates world peace and development.Most participants agree that the Chinese leaders understand that the international society expects China to play a greater role in world affairs and take up more responsibilities accordingly.This provides unprecedented opportunities for China to develop its soft power.

The previous review of the discussion in the conference cannot by any measure capture the rich and in-depth analysis of the meaning and implications of building a new type of great power relations between China and the U.S..I strongly believe that one can learn much more from reading this collection of papers.As the editor and one of the authors of the book, I feel privileged to recommend it to all those who are interested in international relations in general and China-U.S.relations in particular.

Finally, I wish to take this opportunity to express my deep appreciation to the Secretariat of the Beijing Forum, to Mr.Yan Jun, the Secretary General of the Secretariat of the Beijing Forum, to Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies which sponsors the Beijing Forum, to all formal participants of the conference, and to all those teachers, staff, and students of my School who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make the sub-forum a great success, especially Mr.Zhang Chunping, Dr.Jie Dalei, and Miss Liu Lu.Many thanks also to the Peking University Press and Mr.Geng Xiefeng and his staff for their encouragement, support and patience, which is indispensible for the publication of this collection of papers.

[1] This essay has made good use of the summary of the sub-forum put together by Dr.Jie Dalei of the School of International Studies of Peking University.The author wishes to express his thanks to Dr.Jie.

[2] I deliberately translate “xinxing daguo guanxi”into “new type of great power relations”rather than the official translation “new model of major country relations”because it is closer to what is meant, that is, relations between the rising power and the established hegemon.I hope it does not cause any unnecessary confusion.