Negative to positive energy

The June 7-8 summit between President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Barack Obama has drawn worldwide attention. Though some political observers are busy trying to fathom why the Sino-US summit is being held earlier than expected and why its venue is the Sunnylands Estate in California instead of Washington DC, the importance of the meeting lies elsewhere.

The two leaders' first face-to-face meeting since Obama began his second term as US president and Xi assumed the leadership of China will help find a way for Beijing and Washington to work with each other, not against each other. This is important because the significance of Sino-US relations extends far beyond the bilateral scope and the two countries' interactions have a direct bearing on regional geopolitics, and global peace, stability and development.

The common interests of China and the US far outweigh their differences, but we cannot underestimate the risks these differences, especially security concerns, could pose to bilateral relations. Sino-US security ties, especially military ties, have always been a sensitive subject, which, if not properly handled, could compromise their efforts to build a new type of relationship.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, the role of Sino-US military relations in overall bilateral ties has been different at different stages. During the Cold War era, strengthening military cooperation in response to the Soviet Union's military threat was the main driving force of Sino-US ties. In the first few years after the establishment of diplomatic ties, Sino-US military exchanges and cooperation played an important role in promoting bilateral relations.

But the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War diminished Beijing's role in Washington's security strategy. And in the period of twists and turns that followed, Sino-US military ties were always the "first to break and last to be back on track".

In the 21st century, given China's rapid development and growing international influence, many observers started seeing Sino-US military ties more as a zero-sum game. The Chinese military's capability, hardware research and development, strategy and combat theory are sources of worry for the US, which is changing its global military strategy (with special focus on its allies) to prepare for any "eventuality". The "Air-Sea Battle" concept and the development of a conventional prompt global strike system are special parts of the Pentagon strategy, because they are aimed at consolidating the US' military superiority over China.