The United States and China in Power Transition - Strategic Studies ...

The George W. Bush administration, however,
gave China a well-measured answer. Deputy Secretary
of State Robert B. Zoellick delivered the U.S. response
through his now-famous speech to the New
York-based National Committee on U.S.-China Relations
on September 21, 2005. Zoellick welcomed China’s
forthcoming initiative. He commended China for
its impressive economic development, accrediting it
to the U.S. policy of integration that started with President
Nixon’s historic visit to China in 1972 and continued
by successive U.S. Presidents (with understandable
setbacks and modifications due to the changing
nature of international politics and U.S.-China relations).
Zoellick did not join those who regretted that
U.S. integration policy turned China into a threatening
“800-pound gorilla.” Instead, he quoted Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice as saying that “the United
States welcomes a confident, peaceful, and prosperous
China, one that appreciates that its growth and development
depends on constructive connections with the
rest of the world.” At the same time, he urged China
to become a responsible stakeholder in this system.
Zoellick pointed out that China’s quest for peaceful
development had internal and external requirements.
Internally, although the Chinese leaders’ priority was
understandably economic development, they must
take measures to modernize China’s political system,
without which China could not have a sustainable
peaceful condition for its ambitious mission. Externally,
China must work with the United States and other
leading nations to create and maintain an environment
for all to develop peacefully. This cooperation would
require that China share common interests, and more
importantly, fundamental values with the United
States and the other leading nations. Cooperation on a
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