China and the United States should capitalize on the current window of opportunity in bilateral relations to build momentum and prevent progress from slipping, said David Lampton, former president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.
Chinese President Xi Jinping recently concluded a state visit to the U.S. at the invitation of U.S. President Donald Trump. The two heads of state agreed to build a constructive relationship of strategic stability based on respect, fairness and reciprocity.
The visit comes just months after Trump's China trip in May. The exchange of visits between the two heads of state within six months is considered to be of historic and milestone significance by many analysts.
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Lampton quoted a famous 1938 treatise by late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, emphasizing the need to build confidence to seize the opportunity in China-U.S. relations created by the head-of-state diplomacy.
"I was thinking about this Mao Zedong's 1938 'On Protracted War,' and it was in three phases. The first was strategic retreat, then consolidation and then strategic advance. And I think there are people in both our societies that see this current discussion and detente or whatever we might call it, as a pause before strategic advance," he said.
"And so we need to, I think, build confidence that we are not just catching our breath before confrontation, that we're catching our breath to seize opportunity. And I'm pretty sure not everybody in both our societies has that same expectation. And that's why I think window of opportunity, windows close. And I think we either move forward or we're going to move backwards, can't stay in the same place too long," said Lampton.
Expert urges China, US to seize window of opportunity to push bilateral ties forward
