China and the United States (US), regarded as two significant
powers in the world, now face a new chance to choose to cooperate
rather than compete in East Asia, a region where many US analysts
worry the US role might be outweighed by China, experts from China
and the United States said at an international seminar this
week.
The topic of the seminar is "East Asia Cooperation and China-US
Relations."
There is rising concern from some Americans that the US might be
marginalized or even excluded from the increasingly regionalistic
East Asia, said David M. Lampton, a professor of China Studies at
the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS),
referring to the fact that the US has not been invited to attend
the East Asia Summit to be held in Malaysia in December.
"The East Asia Summit represents a kind of half-way house: it
does not include countries that should be there from the standpoint
of their political and security relevance", said J. Stapleton Roy,
the former US ambassador to China.
However, the US experts all agreed that China and the US should
be more cooperative in the East Asia regional institution building
process.
"I don't believe China has a policy to marginalize or even expel
the US from the East Asian affairs", said Shambaugh, who is the
professor of Political Science and International Affairs in the
George Washington University.
"As a matter of fact, I don't think that the US can be
marginalized or expelled from the region", Shambaugh said in an
interview with Xinhua Friday.
According to Shambaugh, US-China relations are a key property of
the emerging regional system, because of the institutionalized
multilateral cooperation until very recently, and because the
US-China relationship is still a major power relationship and the
most important strategic relationship in the region.
"The US can be a positive partner in emerging Asian regionalism,
but it needs to get involved at all levels", Shambaugh said,
warning that if the US winds up being increasingly marginalized or
sidelined from Asian multilateral meetings, it will have no one to
blame but itself.
Shambaugh also noted that China's engagement with its region is
one of the positive trends for the increasingly stronger community
building process.
"Today, China is a positive partner for nations in Asia, and
this is to be welcomed", Shambaugh said in a speech delivered at
the seminar.
The latest statistics from China's Customs showed that the
two-way trade between China and ASEAN countries was valued at
US$16.63 billion in the first two months in 2005, up 23.6 percent
over the that of last year, and the figure reached US$105.9 billion
in the 2004.
"I think the big need for China and the US right now is to
create a cooperative organization to address security issues and in
terms of economic organization, if the region is moving toward a
free trade area, the US will probably want in", Lampton said.
Wu Jianmin, president of China University of Foreign Affairs,
also echoed the US scholars' views in the seminar.
"East Asia is at an early stage of significant transformation,
development and prosperity, which is not only a reality that
important international players, such as China and the US, is
facing with, but also a future mission for them, Wu said.
(Xinhua News Agency November 5, 2005)