The United States, which claims not to take sides in disputes between China and some of its neighbors, is somewhat blamed for rising tension due to its de-facto support of the parties opposite to China, especially its allies Japan and the Philippines.

Yang mentioned that although the United States declared it doesn't take a position on territorial disputes in Northeast Asia, its stances are quite different. On the Japan-South Korea dispute over Dokdo Island, which Japan calls Takeshima, its stance is impartial because the related two countries are both its allies. But its actual attitude is biased toward the Japanese side on the Diaoyu Islands issue.

"Current escalating tension over the Diaoyu Islands was started by the Japanese side, so why does Washington require China to show restraint?" said Yang, pointing out that the U.S. attitude is actually encouraging to Japan.

Yang believed that Washington is also ambivalent on China: It wants to create a tense security environment in China's neighborhood to contain China's development. But it also needs to promote cooperation and mutual trust to satisfy common interests between them. Want it or not, U.S. tactics on the Diaoyu Islands and Asia Pacific are starting to hurt mutual trust between the two biggest economies in the world.

Calls for respect

Both China and the United States have realized the hidden dangers and are trying to bolster mutual trust through high-level exchanges. Following Clinton's visit, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is scheduled to visit China in mid-September. Observers believed that both Clinton and Panetta's visits are targeted at stabilizing the bilateral relationship. They called for efforts to enhance mutual trust based on respect for each other's core interests.

Jin Canrong, a professor with the School of International Studies at Renmin University of China, pointed out Clinton's other goal during her recent trip was to clarify that the adjusted U.S. policy regarding the Asia Pacific is not targeted at China. Jin said there were criticisms inside the United States because the adjusted Asia-Pacific policy is offensive and fruitless. He hoped that Clinton and Panetta's communication with China could help to diminish tension between the two sides.

Jin pointed out that some countries try to gain extra profit for themselves by hitching onto the U.S. foreign policy shift, causing many problems in China's neighborhood. And China feels bad about the current situation in the region. "Now the atmosphere of the Sino-U.S. relationship is not very good. But the basic structure of the relationship, which combines competition amid cooperation, is still the same," Jin said.

Yu of Peking University believed that both sides need to show sincerity and make an effort to promote mutual trust. "Of course there is mutual trust between the two countries. But the current mutual trust is not enough to ease their suspicion of each other's strategic intention," Yu said.

He explained that mutual trust includes two directions. The positive direction is to conduct cooperation, while the negative direction is mainly to keep crisis between two countries under control. Now China and the United States are focused on how to control conflicts more than how to promote cooperation, Yu said. He pointed out that mutual trust cannot be promoted solely by China, because it is also determined by U.S. strategic interests.

Jia Xiudong, a researcher on U.S. studies at the CIIS, said it is understandable that the United States has its interests in the Asia Pacific. However, Jia underlined, the United States cannot sacrifice China's interests when increasing its strategic, political, economic and security input. Jia pointed out that Washington must remember three principles: China is not a challenger of existing international orders; don't try to challenge China on issues concerning China's core interests; and provoking dissension in China's neighborhood will bring the United States more loss than gain. "Respecting each other's core interests is pivotal to keeping the bilateral relationship under healthy development," Jia said.

Sovereignty and territorial integrity are undoubtedly among China's core interests. "China, like all other countries in the world, has an obligation to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a press conference on September 3.

While China has the sincerity of maintaining a good Sino-U.S. relationship, such a relationship should never be established at the expense of China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, Chinese analysts said.

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