Uncharted Waters.docVIP

Uncharted Waters 　　Shortly after the seventh round of the China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue （SED）， a wide-ranging annual dialogue between senior Chinese and U.S. officials held in Washington， D.C.， in late June， Beijing Review’s op-ed contributor An Gang interviewed Robert S. Ross， a professor of political science at Boston College and an associate with the John King Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies， Harvard University. Ross’ 2014 claim that China-U.S. relations were at their worst since the two countries normalized diplomatic ties in the late 1970s drew widespread attention. Excerpts of the interview follow： 　　An Gang： After the conclusion of the seventh SED， do you still believe that the China-U.S. relations are undergoing a critical moment or downward spiral？ 　　Robert S. Ross： The results of the SED reflect the ongoing trend in U.S.-China relations. While there was considerable progress toward cooperation on bilateral non-security issues and on global cooperation， the United States maintained its firm resistance to Chinese activities in the South China Sea. The ability of the United States and China to cooperate despite deteriorating security relations underscores the fundamental difference between U.S.-Soviet Cold War relations and contemporary U.S.-China relations. But security relations remain the most important aspect of great power relations， and the development of adversarial relations in East Asia is very worrisome. 　　As to the maritime security issue in China-U.S. relations， how do you evaluate its future development？ Is it becoming a core issue of risk between our two countries？ 　　The maritime security issue is the most important issue in U.S.-China relations. It involves U.S. and Chinese defense spending， weapons acquisition， alliance relations and the risk of crisis dynamics. U.S.-China relations in the South China Sea will be difficult to stabilize， and it will be even more difficult to reverse the current trend and strengthen coo