On Sino-us Strategic Mutual Trust

After the Cold War, the Sino-U.S. relations were in a condition of instability. Some serious crises occurred periodically between China and the United States, which had a very negative influence on the Sino-U.S. relations. In the early 21st century, especially after the Sino-U.S."Aircraft Collision Incident", the Sino-U.S. relations maintain nearly 7 years'stability. How to maintain this development status and further promote the long-term stability of the Sino-U.S. relations is a big issue for China and the United States.However, as for the current Sino-U.S. relations, with the convergence of the interests of the two countries, the"complexity"characteristic of the Sino-U.S. relations is still very apparent. On the one hand, the overall situation of Sino-U.S. relations is basically stable; on the other hand, there are many unavoidable problems and contradictions between the two countries. In the long term, the strategic issues (structural contradictions) are the biggest obstacles for the development of the Sino-U.S. relations. Tracing to the source, the root of problems and contradictions between China and the United States is strategic distrust.Realism, Neo-liberal Institutionalism and Constructivism,the three mainstream paradigms of theories international relations, all have discussed the trust issues between countries. From the perspective of realism, balance of power can lead to stability but can't produce trust. From the perspective of Neo-liberal Institutionalism, institution-building can promote cooperation and foster trust. From the perspective of Constructivism, the shaping of idea of"sharing"can change identity and lead to the formation of trust. From the different perspectives, we can analyze the causes of strategic distrust between China and the United States.Strategic mutual trust issue is the core issue of the current Sino-U.S. relations. To achieve long-term stability, China and the United States must construct strategic mutual trust from a strategic and overall perspective. The Sino-U.S. strategic mutual trust has a connotation of overall and long-term property. The overall property of the Sino-U.S. strategic mutual trust means that China and the United States achieve the mutual trust on the strategic issues which have an overall influence on the Sino-U.S. relations. The long-term property of the Sino-U.S. strategic mutual trust means that China and the United States achieve the mutual trust on"each other's long-term strategic intentions".Combined with the examination on status quo of Sino-U.S. relations and the analyzation on the causes of inter-state distrust from the three mainstream paradigms of theories international relations, we can gradually push forward the construction of the Sino-U.S. strategic mutual trust by reducing"misperception", strengthening mechanism construction and shaping idea of"sharing". The construction of Sino-U.S. strategic mutual trust has a far-reaching theoretical and practical significance. The construction of Sino-U.S. strategic mutual trust is the practice of China's"Peaceful Rise"theory and its completion will cause amendment to the old theories international relations. The construction of Sino-U.S. strategic mutual trust is the fundamental for China and the United States to achieve long-term stability and will provide a new paradigm for"peaceful coexistence between the rising great powers with the existing great powers".