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Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi (1st R) co-chairs a diplomatic and security dialogue with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (1st L) and Secretary of Defense James Mattis (2nd L) as Fang Fenghui (2nd R), a member of China's Central Military Commission (CMC) and chief of the CMC Joint Staff Department, also participates in the dialogue in Washington D.C., the United States, on June 21, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

The first round of diplomatic and security dialogue between China and the United States, under the new Trump administration, opening on June 21, 2017, in Washington D.C., has signaled a sense of normalcy since the changeover of occupant in the White House.

During U.S. President Donald Trump's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the former's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in April, the two leaders committed themselves to establishing a mechanism comprising four major dialogues, namely, Diplomatic and Security Dialogue, Comprehensive Economic Dialogue, Law Enforcement and Cyber Strategic Dialogue, and the Social and People-to-People Dialogue.

The Diplomatic and Security Dialogue is upgraded from the former Strategic and Economic Dialogue between the two countries. According to Susan Thornton, acting assistant secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, at a press briefing on June 19, the U.S. "felt that structure for the dialogue had become overburdened with ceremony and there were too many issues to cover any issue in depth and make substantive progress." So separating the Strategic and Economic Dialogue is aimed at elevating the level of the dialogue to focus on a few key issues to get progress.

The luminaries of the Diplomatic and Security Dialogue constitute Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi, General Fang Fenghui, a member of China's Central Military Commission (CMC) and chief of the CMC Joint Staff Department, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis.

The dialogue resembled the "2+2" (Foreign Minister + Defense Minister) dialogue the United States has previously held with its allies.

China took the dialogue as a platform to boost mutual trust, expand consensus, promote cooperation and work on disputes to achieve stable progress in bilateral ties.

The first meetings of the remaining three dialogues will be held later this year to continue the process of enhancing the world's key strategic relationship.

Based on the speeches by the American high-ranking officials in the recent dialogue, the changes Trump has made to the China policies from Barack Obama's administration are less than expected.

While addressing the Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore on June 3, 2017, Mattis said: "While competition between the U.S. and China, the world's two largest economies, is bound to occur, conflict is not inevitable. Our two countries can and do cooperate for mutual benefit. And we will pledge to work closely with China where we share common cause." The remark doesn't significantly differ from the fundamental principles of the Obama administration in regard to China.

Meanwhile, Trump's foreign policies to China are highlighted by his proposal for building constructive, result-oriented relationships. The guideline reveals well the philosophy of the businessman-turned-president. Unsurprisingly, no country would wish to please others while putting its own interest at stake.

Additionally, the two countries agree to press ahead with the military cooperation based on the consensus reached between the two leaders. The memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries in an attempt to build mutual trust will continue to help broaden bilateral exchanges between the militaries at the two sides.

However, nobody can ignore Trump's psyche as a businessman who may consider his administration's relations with China as merely another of his ongoing commercial deals.

Thornton's briefing on June 19 showed that the United States remained insistent on taking China's stance over denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as a stepping stone for better relations, thus using the regional nuclear hassle as leverage for bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

Following the remarkable "100-day plan" reached between the two countries on economic and trade issues, the cooperation is expected to extend to a wider spectrum, including, law enforcement and cyber security.

Obviously, the two countries are not supposed to oppose each other considering the mutual benefits they have achieved.

Yet the United States need to think twice before launching Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in South Korea, continuing "freedom of navigation operations" in the South China Sea or selling arms and munitions to China's Taiwan, as these are all actions that China considers severely jeopardize its interests.

The author is a researcher with the Institute of American Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

The article was translated by Wu Jin. Its original unabridged version was published in Chinese.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

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