The China – U.S. relationship is like a troubled marriage. A long-term commitment, to be sure, but there are problems to work out, which often proves difficult because there is a lack of trust. At that point, what’s important is communication so we can resolve our differences and strengthen the relationship for a more optimistic future. That clearly was the purpose of President Xi Jin Ping’s recent visit to the United States.

China and US quite naturally have differences, because we have different history, culture and political systems -- and we are in different stages of development. The challenge is to recognize those differences and respect them, but not let them dominate the bilateral relationship.

Richard Weitz argues that Xi Jinping’s visit to the U.S. did not strengthen mutual trust between the two governments, and suggests that Washington and Beijing need to move from words to actions regarding Afghanistan, which is facing increased insecurity, and views China as an important regional partner.

It is hard to avoid the U.S.-China bipolar narrative, although this over-simplistic analysis misses other measures of global power and insecurity. Xenia Wicket argues there is no single paramount power, but a variety of nodes of state and non-state actors.

The American media and the White House missed an opportunity to present President Xi’s visit in ways that highlighted the important cooperation made in areas such as Afghanistan, peacekeeping, nuclear security, wildlife trafficking and ocean conservation.

On September 25, 2015, the White House and the Chinese government issued parallel statements explaining the various agreements Presidents Obama and Xi reached during Xi’s state visit. On the cyber and technology front, the agreements break no new policy ground, but do create a much-needed umbrella under which concrete, practical steps can be taken to reduce conflict in cyberspace and tensions in the bilateral relationship.

In four key addresses at the UN, the Chinese leader pledged to uphold the modern global system anchored by the purpose and principles of the UN Charter, and set a tone that reflects positively on China’s international standing.

Despite President Xi Jinping’s efforts to assuage the concerns of U.S. business executives while in Seattle, Hugh Stephens argues that these statements don’t reflect reality—that China imposes a much wider range of restrictions on U.S. investors than is the case for Chinese investment in the US.

Alternatively quoting or denouncing Thucydides is becoming an integral part of U.S.-China discourse. Jared McKinney argues that we should look at what Thucydides actually had to say: power transitions do not make war inevitable, and other variables—such as contests for honor and competing alliance systems—matter just as much.

The relationship between a rising power and an established power has always been a complicated one. Since the 16th century, there have been four major cases of rising powers interacting with established world powers – all resulting in conflict. However, during the recent state visit by Xi Jinping to the United States, both countries eagerness to seek cooperation was on full display.