China has intensified its efforts recently to deepen diplomatic and trade relationships with international partners and secure its rapidly expanding interests globally. This new dynamic presents both challenges and opportunities for the United States. Regrettably, Beijing sees the U.S. strategy of “pivoting” or “rebalancing” its Asia policy in a negative light, as an effort to contain China. Moreover, in the important areas of trade, investment and regional security, China and the U.S. seem to be moving apart. Both countries need to refocus on ways to strengthen mutual ties and work to resolve the issues that divide them.
There has been some progress. During the November Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in Beijing, the U.S. and China concluded new agreements on climate control, IT tariffs and military cooperation. And both countries continue to be engaged in issue-specific discussions, such as cybersecurity.
Still, the U.S. needs to set its sights higher. In particular, there seems to be no compelling reason why the world’s two greatest economic powers shouldn’t start the process of establishing a comprehensive, bilateral free-trade agreement. We’ve argued in favor of such an agreement for years, and on many trips to China top leaders have told us that they would be receptive to such an initiative.
Read full article HERE