Opinion | The US-China relationship is too big to fail, but are Trump and Xi the men to save it?

Chi Wang says the normalisation of US-China ties, under Carter and Deng, was an undertaking made possible by a shared vision. How can the current leaders, with their conflicting goals, find a way to move the bilateral relationship forward?

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Illustration: Timothy Mcevenue. See: www.timothymcevenue.net

Published: 1:00am, 11 Jan 2019Updated: 1:35am, 11 Jan 2019

Forty years ago, I stood at Andrews Air Force Base to await Deng Xiaoping’s arrival as he began his historic visit to the United States. There are no words to describe what it meant for me, as a Chinese-American, to see the country of my birth finally forging ties with my new home.

I came to the US shortly before the founding of the People’s Republic of China, so my experience in the US had primarily been of a China and US at odds with each other, especially after the start of the Korean war.

I always hoped for a better relationship, fitting my childhood memories of the US and China being allies during the second world war. The sight of American troops liberating our country from Japanese occupation is one of the images that originally inspired me to pursue an education in America.

As I took part in the celebratory events during Deng’s visit, I could not help but reflect on the countless hours of meetings, discussions and planning that had made this trip possible. Evidently, much importance was placed on normalisation of relations with the US.

When I met Deng at the Chinese Embassy before the reception held in his honour, he made it clear during our conversation his main goal in normalisation was to improve the lives of the Chinese people.