China, US should make new gains

Joining the TPP would have the same positive systemic effects on the Chinese economy that joining the WTO did 14 years ago, as it would jar many of the entrenched institutional interests (particularly in the financial and State industrial sectors, but also in energy, transport, and telecommunications). In all of these sectors, China's economy is essentially closed and protected - joining the TPP and phasing in the high (and open) standards that the TPP is expected to establish would be an enormous jolt to these sectors, but that is just what they need if China is to realize its own Third Plenum economic goals.

Continuing the deepening of military exchanges is also high on the agenda. The last two years witnessed the broadest and deepest set of "mil-mil" exchanges in 25 years, and this new momentum needs to be built upon. This will require, on the US side, revision or retraction of the 2000 Defense Authorization Act - which places a range of restrictions on what the Pentagon can and cannot do in its exchanges with the People's Liberation Army. The US and Chinese militaries are at the heart of strategic interactions between the two nations, and all efforts must thus be made to deepen the interactions and communications between the two military establishments.

A third set of issues high on the agenda will be to forge practical cooperation on a number of so-called global governance issues - including counterterrorism, anti-piracy, climate change, maritime security, economic stability, energy security, food security, and setting global rules for cyberactivity. Whether Washington and Beijing work in tandem to address these issues, or work on separate but parallel tracks, such cooperation is critical to addressing these international challenges.

As President Obama enters his last two years in office, facing a Republican majority in both houses of Congress, he will likely be perceived increasingly as a "lame duck". This may be a fact, but it would be a mistake to not work with his administration in building on the momentum established in Beijing in November 2014 and to expand the "zone of cooperation" in China-US relations (bilaterally, regionally and globally).

US President Obama's successor will be far better served inheriting a relationship that is stable and as cooperative as possible.

The author is professor of political science and international affairs and director of the China policy program at George Washington University.