Abstract:
Management and control of disagreements is an important concept put forward by the Chinese leadership in light of the new situation in order to stabilize and develop Sino-U.S. relations. It originates from China’s principle in traditional diplomatic thinking of seeking common ground while reserving differences and it is based on a profound understanding of the conditions of Sino-U.S. relations. To management and control disagreements has already become a core content of building a new model of major-country relationship between China and the United States. The Sino-U.S. differences cover various aspects of bilateral relations, among which political, economic, security aspects are the most important ones. Political differences involve fundamental differences and contradictions in social system, cultural values and ideology between the two countries. Economic disagreements exist mainly in such aspects as trade, investment, finance, the RMB exchange rate, intellectual property rights and regional integration frameworks. Security disagreements include mainly the disagreements and contradictions in bilateral military relations, regional security, nuclear strategy and cybersecurity.
It is natural that China and the United States disagree on some issues. But since the outset of the new century and particularly since the international financial crisis of 2008, as the balance of power between China and the United States evolves in a direction favorable to China, the U.S. anxiety about China's has increased. It fears that China will eventually replace its position of power, kick it out of Asia and establish a China-led political, economic and security order in the Asia-Pacific. Against this backdrop, the sensitivity and destructiveness of Sino-U.S. political, economic and security disagreements are on the rise, the same is the U.S. mentality of guarding against China. Competition between the two countries has intensified in recent years. Whether the Sino-U.S. disagreements can be constructively managed or not directly determines if the bilateral relations tend to be better or worse. Therefore, it is necessary to look into the issue both in theory and in practice so as to explore the road of "seeking no conflict and no confrontation but mutual respect and win-win cooperation" between the two countries.
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