[By Jiao Haiyang/China.org.cn]

A heated debate on how the United States should react to China's rise is going on in the United States. The main dispute is whether the long-established approach to China should be abandoned.

In the past 30 years, the United States has worked hard to ensure China adheres to the international order established by Western countries. The aim was to make China a follower of existing international rules, a defender of existing international order and a partner of the United States. Washington wanted to keep in touch with Beijing so as to steer China's development. Meanwhile, China has worked hard to reform itself and open up to the world. It wanted to be integrated into the international community and hoped to develop its economy amid economic globalization.

The two countries may differ in strategy, but they share common interests. Therefore, despite all the arguments, sensitive issues and even crises, they continue to promote the sound development of bilateral ties.

Although China still lags far behind the United States, the gap between the two countries has been narrowing as a result of China's reform and opening up during the past 30 years. In comparison, over the past few decades, the United States has suffered from long, drawn-out anti-terrorism wars, contagious economic crises, increasingly diversified global issues and the fast development of emerging economies. Thusly, the country has felt its leading position in the world being somewhat undermined.

The United States has realized that it didn't change China into the kind of country it had planned. Instead, China possesses the potential of becoming its "perfect enemy" in the political, economic and military fields and has the power to challenge existing international order. This has made some people begin to worry about the future of China-U.S. relations.