Historical narratives in Beijing, Washington, and other capitals in the region expose diverging views over what the nature of Asia's security order should resemble. Will Asia-Pacific's security be contingent on ongoing American dominion or will Chinese centralism emerge? This is the very question that tests American willingness and ability to accept Chinese proposals for a "new type of major power relationship."

To overcome mutual suspicion, both parties should follow certain guiding principles: 1) abide by international law, establish common standards of action in the Asia-Pacific region, and improve lines of communication and increase transparency; 2) preserve, as much as possible, the status quo. The use or threat of force undermines the existing security order; 3) maximize efforts to manage and resolve differences through peaceful means; and 4) notify one another ahead of time of any major security move to bolster mutual confidence and collaborative security.

China and the United States should grasp opportunities not only to work together and to benefit mutually from a stable security environment. After pledging not to launch cyber attacks on each other's nuclear power stations and banking systems, Beijing and Washington should also share technical assistance to jointly verify the sources of future attacks and bring the perpetrators to justice internationally.

This will surely boost the effectiveness of the upcoming Xi-Obama summit. In addition, there is room for cooperation to mitigate various sorts of non-traditional threats that we see emerging today, such as the flow of refugees from Middle East and North Africa.

The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.ccgp-fushun.com/opinion/shendingli.htm

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