Outside View: US, China Need Each Other

'China so far is probably the only country that can influence North Korea. It is also one of the very few countries that have close ties with Iran. Instead of trying to isolate and threaten Pyongyang and Tehran, Washington should cooperate with China to persuade those countries to abandon their nuclear programs.'
By Thomas Wiegand
Outside View Contributor
Bonn, Germany (UPI) Nov 04, 2005
When the Twin Towers in New York were destroyed by Islamic fundamentalists on Sept. 11, 2001, the United States learned two lessons: 1) The United States is invincible but not invulnerable and 2) The United States is a superpower but not almighty.
To fight the war against terrorism, the United States needs allies around the globe.
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are extremely straining the U.S. armed forces. The United States cannot dare to wage a war against North Korea because U.S. capabilities are already overstretched. Washington needs allies to achieve its security goals.
There are spheres where China and the United States have the same interests. Both countries do not have any sympathy for Islamic terrorists. Both countries have a vital interest in a stable Korean peninsula. Both countries did not want to cause military conflict. Washington must be interested in cooperating with China on security affairs.
China so far is probably the only country that can influence North Korea. It is also one of the very few countries that have close ties with Iran. Instead of trying to isolate and threaten Pyongyang and Tehran, Washington should cooperate with China to persuade those countries to abandon their nuclear programs.
As a standing member of the United Nations Security Council, China can promote U.S. initiatives in the world organization. Washington should stop regarding China as a potential enemy without neglecting the differences between the two states.
With regard to Taiwan, Washington should make clear that it would neither tolerate Chinese military action nor coercive methods to bring Taiwan under Beijing's control or any development in Taiwan to declare formal independence.
The United States as well as all other Western nations should continue to watch closely the situation of human rights and religious freedom in China.
An intelligent policy with regard to China would support the integration of this country into the international political and economic community and would strive to build up a comprehensive cooperation between the countries. In the long term, only such a policy would help to improve the standard of living for all of China's people and promote political and religious freedom in the country.
Economic cooperation between the two countries is one of the most important factors for building a partnership. When in 1979 the Chinese leadership under Paramount Leader Deng Xiaoping decided to implement a total reform of China's economy, the Chinese Communist Party regarded three elements as decisive for the success.
First of all, the planning system of the economy was carefully replaced by a more market-oriented model. Secondly, the system of prices that were fixed by political authorities was abandoned and substituted with prices that were determined by the open market. Thirdly, in order to gain access to foreign currency and technology, China was opened to investors from other countries.
The reasons for these fundamental reforms were to prevent the economy from collapsing and to maintain the power monopoly of the CCP. The reforms were extraordinary successful, but the more China's economy grew, the more dependent the country became on foreign trade.
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