Healthy China-U.S. ties benefit whole world, say experts

Photo taken on Sept. 24, 2015 shows the national flags of China (R) and the United States as well as the flag of Washington D.C. on the Constitution Avenue in Washington, capital of the United States. (Xinhua/Bao Dandan)

The virtual meeting is a "good beginning," said former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Acknowledging that progress has been made in jointly tackling climate change by both sides, Kissinger said there are a whole range of issues in which cooperation between the two sides could be beneficial.

BEIJING, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- The sound and steady development of the China-U.S. relationship is beneficial to the two countries and the rest of the world, overseas experts have said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping had a virtual meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday. The two sides had thorough and in-depth communication and exchanges on issues of strategic, overarching and fundamental importance shaping the development of China-U.S. relations and on important issues of mutual interest.

The virtual meeting is a "good beginning," said former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger while attending a forum held in Singapore.

Acknowledging that progress has been made in jointly tackling climate change by both sides, Kissinger said there are a whole range of issues in which cooperation between the two sides could be beneficial.

The China-U.S. relationship is "important to the stability and development of the world," said Volker Tschapke, honorary president of Germany's Prussian Society.

"A stable China-U.S. relationship is also generally expected by the international community, which also meets the interests of both parties," said Tschapke.

Kazi Nabil Ahmed, member of Bangladesh's Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, said the talks are "fruitful for both sides to understand each other better."

"Excellent China-U.S. relationship will be beneficial for both sides" and will also "benefit the whole world economically and politically," he said.

Noting the virtual meeting is very significant, Allan Behm, director of International and Security Affairs Program at the Australia Institute, said it brings some hope to the world.

The meeting is a powerful demonstration that the two countries can "cooperate on issues that constitute an existential threat to humanity," he said.

In the eyes of Wichai Kinchong Choi, senior vice president of leading Thai bank Kasikornbank, the meeting can be "an important step for better understanding, exchange and cooperation between the United States and China."

Working together, the two countries will benefit the whole world, he said.

Cheng Li, director of the John L. Thornton China Center and a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy program at Brookings, said the virtual meeting is "a very rational, reciprocal, and responsible move."

The meeting means "a very positive and welcome development" of the China-U.S. relationship, said Sudheendra Kulkarni, former chairman of the Mumbai-based think-tank Observer Research Foundation.

Noting China-U.S. relations concern world stability, Kulkarni said it is important for the two countries to reduce differences and expand consensus, which is "only possible through dialogue."

B.R. Deepak, a professor and sinologist at Jawaharlal Nehru University in India, was impressed by China's call for making the cake bigger for China-U.S. cooperation.

The virtual meeting could open the door for bringing the China-U.S. relationship back to the right track, said Deepak.

"China and the U.S. need one another, and the rest of the world needs China and the U.S. to learn to co-exist in harmony," said Josh Selig, founder and president of China Bridge Content, a New York and Beijing-based content and consulting firm.

"There's really no choice except for both sides to take a deep breath and find a new, creative way forward. This new way must be defined by mutual respect," he said.