TOKYO, November 17. /TASS/. In its relations with China the United States would like to create the same mechanism for preventing crises and a slide toward nuclear war that had existed between Washington and Moscow at the last stage of the Soviet Union’s existence, Tsuneo Watanabe, Japan’s prominent foreign policy commentator has told TASS.
"The US goal is to form a full-scale system of crisis control and nuclear war prevention in relations with China, like the one built with Moscow during the Soviet period as a result of the detente policy. So far, nothing of the sort exists between Washington and Beijing. However, US President Joe Biden, as a high-ranking Pentagon official told me, intends to make sure that such a system be built in relations with China," said Watanabe, a senior researcher at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, one of the country's leading research and philanthropic centers.
"Beijing understands Washington's goals. However, it is not in the mood for an easy compromise on this track. A full-scale system of crisis control replicating the one that existed in the Soviet Union’s last years would give the US, as Beijing fears, the impression that the threat of conflict and its escalation into war has been firmly eliminated. This may tempt Washington to pursue an even tougher policy toward China on other fronts."
"However, at the just-ended meeting of the two leaders in San Francisco China did make a step toward the creation of such a system," Watanabe said. "The way I see it, Beijing opted for this due to difficulties in the economy and its interest in preserving large-scale trading and economic ties with the US. This may be the beginning of a real easing of tensions in bilateral relations, although it is too early to draw final conclusions."
Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden agreed to resume a high-level dialogue between the two countries' militaries at a meeting in San Francisco. According to the Xinhua news agency, there are plans for holding working meetings between the defense ministers of China and the United States and establishing a mechanism for consultations on maritime security and telephone conversations between the chiefs of theater commands. The two leaders met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit taking place in San Francisco on November 15-17.