International experts hailed the positive results of the phone conversation between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump, calling on the two major countries to pursue friendship rather than animosity.
In the phone talks on Thursday initiated by Trump, Xi said that dialog and cooperation are the only correct choice for China and the United States. The two sides should enhance communication in such fields as foreign affairs, economy and trade, military, and law enforcement to build consensus, clear up misunderstandings, and strengthen cooperation.
During the phone call, President Xi also welcomed President Trump to visit China again, for which Trump expressed heartfelt appreciation.
According to experts, however, the advancement of friendly bilateral relations will depend on the actions of the often unpredictable U.S. administration.
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Friday, Victor Gao Zhikai, vice president of the Center for China and Globalization, said China is clearly willing to work together in partnership, leaving the onus on the American side to show its readiness to do the same.
"This is the time when the rest of the world will look at China as the greatest source of reliability, predictability and certainty, in sharp contrast with the United States, which turns out to be highly unreliable and is a force of unpredictability and uncertainty. And I think this contrast is very unprecedented and very fascinating for the rest of the world. China applies statecraft as a very serious banner, whereas the Trump administration unfortunately is very capricious, very arbitrary, in terms of vacant promises and creating huge issues out of nothing and then trying to move mountains, trying to solve the so-called their own self-made problems, and then claiming all the credit, eventually," Gao said.
Josef Gregory Mahoney, a professor of politics and international relations at East China Normal University, said it's best for both sides to avoid any more friction, which brings a great risk.
"I think while it's certain that frictions of any sort between China and U.S. are a great risk for both countries and many others, including the growing possibility of a recession in the U.S. and beyond -- problems made all the more likely should the U.S. continue its zero-sum global trade aggressions and lack of fiscal responsibility, like its new record-breaking trillion-dollar defense budget and plans to slash government revenues. Now, the U.S. hasn't yet figured it out, I'm afraid, that China can be its best friend or its worst enemy. And this is partly a problem related to the sort of longstanding, deeply ingrained imperial hubris common to once-mighty hegemons," he said.
"But it's also a peculiar feature of American politics today, where we see the president turning against allies, even threatening their security and sovereignty, or the incredible fallout we've witnessed overnight between former comrades-in-arms of Trump and Musk, which has already seen the return towards (a scenario) like impeachment in America's highly polarized political landscape," the professor added.
Experts call for friendly China-U.S. relations following Xi-Trump phone call
