Chance of a new beginning for world’s most important bilateral relationship

Republican Donald Trump won the US presidential election on Wednesday to become the country’s 47th president after winning more than 270 electoral votes that are needed to enter the White House.

Yet following celebrations given his stunning political comeback, the 78-year-old former US president does not have much time to waste before he pitches in to get the real work done.

The election has exposed the depths of division the country has never before seen, and the healing process could take years. Trump made the first step in that direction by saying it was “time to unite” as a country during his election victory speech in Florida.

Once in office, Trump will be facing more pressing challenges, ranging from the economy to jobs and to immigration. That voters whose top issue was the economy voted overwhelmingly for him serves as a testament to the political mantra “it’s the economy, stupid”. High price rises over the past four years that have caused financial difficulties for many, especially low-income households, were considered one of the main reasons behind Democratic candidate Kamala Harris’ defeat.

A solution that Trump has offered to end the US’ economic woes is higher tariffs, which he said would “launch an economic boom”. He even proposed to impose 60 percent tariffs on Chinese imports, which many economists warn could only lead to inflation, thus even higher prices for US consumers.

That issue alone raises enough worries about huge uncertainties for future China-US relations. Other differences that could potentially pit the two countries against each other range from the Taiwan question to the South China Sea issue.

It is natural for China and the US, the world’s two largest economies, to have differences. How to responsibly manage them will determine the future of Sino-US ties.

China insists that the principle of “mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation” is the guarantee for the smooth development of Sino-US relations and therefore, must be the direction for joint efforts by the two countries on the way ahead.

That the two countries have broad common interests not only in traditional areas such as the economy, trade and agriculture, but also in emerging areas such as climate change and artificial intelligence makes cooperation “the only correct choice” for them. The two countries must work to ensure that the common interests they share transcend the differences that exist between them.

Economic and trade cooperation has always served as a ballast of Sino-US relations, and how to make larger the “cake of economic cooperation” between the two countries, rather than high tariffs or other restrictive measures such as “de-risking” or “decoupling”, would help solve the economic problems.

The Taiwan question is the most important and most sensitive issue at the core of Sino-US ties. It is the political foundation of bilateral relations. It is a redline that should never be crossed. The new US administration must stick to the “one-China” principle so as to navigate Sino-US ties through any disturbances that would arise.

China has made it clear that it is a friend and partner of the US, not a threat or an adversary to the country as some US politicians claim. The two countries stand to gain from cooperation, and lose from conflict, as history proves.

Now that the US presidential race has come to an end, new opportunities have emerged for the two countries to push forward the mutually beneficial Sino-US cooperation, which not only serves the interests of the two countries, but also will inject greater certainty and stability into a world that is gripped by unprecedented changes and chaos.

[Abridged]

Editorial, China Daily