WASHINGTON, Dec. 28 (Chinese media) -- The normalization of U.S.-Chinarelations is "the single most important positive strategic decision" the two countries have made in the last 60 or 70 years, a China expert has said.
"If we don't have a formal diplomatic relationship we would not have the trade and economic relationship we have," said David Lampton, director of China Studies in the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
"Basically I think the normalization of the U.S.-china relations is the single most important positive strategic decision that our two countries have made in the last 60 or 70 years," Lampton said in a recent interview with Chinese media in the run-up to the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
"It promoted global economic growth in a way that benefited the Chinese people and the United States," he said.
During the Cold War, the United States fought two hot wars -- one involved China directly and one less directly, the professor noted.
"Those were the most expensive wars that either of us fought in the Cold War. So we have benefited enormously from not having each other as enemies," he said.
"So I would say whether you look at it strategically, or economically, normalization was really the most intelligent single policy decision either of us made in probably 60 years," the professor said.
Lampton, a prolific scholar on Sino-U.S. relations, recently authored a new book titled The Three Faces of Chinese Power: Might, Money and Minds, in which he offers a new perspective on the rise of China's soft power and its ramifications to the United States.
The professor believed that competition between the United States and China, including that in the realms of soft power, is a good thing and can be "very constructive."
"The essence of soft power is attraction. It is positive, so I don't see soft power as a threat. I see it as promoting cooperation because it intrinsically tries to attract people through positive ideas, economic attraction, and so on," he said.
In the fields of soft power, he said, there are opportunities for cooperation between the United States and China.
"One form of soft power I talked about in my book is innovation," Lampton said.
As China is becoming more innovative, the two countries could cooperate in the development of energy and even oil, he added.
"We should be working together on solar power, and wind power and so on to a great extent," the professor continued, noting that U.S.-China cooperation in the intellectual area could help both countries solve their common problems.
When asked to comment on the prospects of China-U.S. relations, Lampton was optimistic.
"I believe ultimately the Chinese and Americans are pragmatic. And maybe we made mistakes along the way but we usually try to change our course if we see it is mistaken."
"Therefore I can not believe the prospects are not good. I think they are very good for the simple reason that they are so obviously in our mutual self-interests," the professor said.
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