American experts tell Trump: China is not an enemy

An open letter has been written to United States President Donald Trump and the U.S. Congress by 100 well-known figures from various fields to voice their concerns about the country's current policies towards China.

Titled "Making China a U.S. enemy is counterproductive", the letter was written by five leading experts, including MIT professor M. Taylor Fravel, former American ambassador to China J. Stapleton Roy, senior Carnegie Endowment for International Peace fellow Michael D. Swaine, former acting assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs Susan A. Thornton, and Harvard University professor emeritus Ezra Vogel.

File photo shows the national flags of China and United States. [Photo: VCG]

The letter, which was published Wednesday on the Washington Post, articulated seven issues that the authors have with current American policy towards China:

1. America's current approach to dealing with China's behavior is counterproductive;

2. The right balance between competition and cooperation will make China a constructive player in world affairs;

3. Treating China as an enemy and disconnecting it from the global economy won't contain its rise and will undermine the interests of the United States;

4. Fears that China will replace America as the global leader are exaggerated;

5. Maintaining deterrence by working with allies is a wise way to cope with the China's rising military power;

6. China should to be encouraged to participate in global regimes and be allowed to have a greater voice;

7. The United States should focus on strengthening international cooperation and improving its own competitiveness rather than trying to undermine and contain China's engagement with the world.

Some of the notable signatories of the letter include Jeffrey A. Bader, former senior director for East Asia of the National Security Council; Kenneth Lieberthal, former Asia senior director of the National Security Council; and Stephen A. Orlins, president, National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.

The letter ended by stressing that "there is no single Washington consensus endorsing an overall adversarial stance toward China, as some believe exists."