NEW YORK, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- The United States and China have different reasons for seeking a more stable relationship, but both stand to gain from greater predictability even as many differences need to be properly managed, U.S. scholar Robert Lawrence Kuhn has said.
"Each side, the U.S. and China, has a big stake in constructive strategic stability, but for different reasons," Kuhn said in a recent interview with Xinhua.
As long as the outcome is constructive strategic stability, he added, "then everybody wins."
Kuhn, a longtime observer of China who has authored books on the country's development and governance, said the concept should not be taken to mean that differences between the two countries have disappeared. Rather, it points to the need to keep differences under control.
Rather, he said, the immediate value of stability is to prevent those differences from repeatedly disrupting the broader relationship and to make its trajectory more predictable.
STABILITY MEANS PREDICTABILITY
Kuhn said the wording of "constructive strategic stability" itself deserves attention, as such terminology can provide strategic guidance for handling bilateral affairs across various fields.
"When China commits to a certain phraseology or certain words, that's a serious meaning," he said.
The central word, he added, is "stability."
"Stability means something that is predictable, something that maintains a trajectory where you can forecast," Kuhn said. "Stability is broadly important from an economic and prosperity point of view for the world, for China, the U.S. for sure."
Kuhn said "constructive" is also significant because it acknowledges that the relationship needs work. The objective is not to pretend that disagreements no longer exist, but to create a framework in which they can be managed, he added.
For Washington, Kuhn pointed to a fierce midterm election environment and multiple international challenges. China, meanwhile, places a premium on a stable external environment as it pursues its economic and development goals.
THE WORLD ALSO HAS A STAKE
From artificial intelligence and climate change, public health and the fight against drug trafficking, China and the United States are involved in many of the major issues confronting the international community.
Kuhn said the benefits of a more predictable relationship would extend beyond the two countries.
"There's no question that U.S.-China relations are the single biggest factor in the world, in terms of giving the world confidence in the future," he said.
He cautioned, however, against confusing stability with reconciliation.
Rather than expecting Washington and Beijing to suddenly work together perfectly, the more immediate objective should be to prevent disputes over tariffs, critical minerals and other issues from repeatedly escalating.
WHY THE STATE VISIT MATTERS
Against that backdrop, Kuhn said an upcoming meeting between Xi and Trump in Washington could be consequential even without dramatic breakthroughs.
"Whenever President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump meet, it is good for U.S.-China relations and for the world," he said.
Kuhn said there is "a good chemistry between the two presidents" and that Trump places considerable weight on personal relationships with other leaders.
A visibly constructive meeting, he said, sends a signal through government and business circles that legitimate engagement with the other country is acceptable. That matters because political uncertainty can itself discourage economic and social ties.
"It's easier not to do something than to do something," Kuhn said. "When there's uncertainty, you just do nothing. That's the safest thing to do."
The same applies to people-to-people exchanges. Kuhn said scholars, healthcare professionals, cultural institutions and others have increasingly worried that engagement could be interpreted as "aiding the other side, the competitor."
Clear support from the top can help create political space for such contacts, he said. Of sustained people-to-people engagement, Kuhn said, "I think it's the single most important thing the world can do on a long-term basis." ■
