By Li Hongmei
In the lead-up to the first summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama, which is set at a "critical juncture" in relations between China and the U.S., as Xi Jinping said Monday, U.S. National Security Adviser Tom Donilon arrived in Beijing to prepare for the significant June 7-8 meeting.
Xi told Tom Donilon during their meeting that he expected positive results from talks with Obama.
"The current China-U.S. relationship is at a critical juncture," Xi said. The sides must now "build on past successes and open up new dimensions for the future."
The setting for the summit - at the private Sunnylands estate of the late publishing tycoon Walter Annenberg in southern California - is supposed to be informal, giving Xi and Obama a chance to build a rapport, according to the U.S. media.
Donilon flew to Beijing this week to prepare an agenda and straighten out other technical issues. He told Xi that Obama is "firmly committed to building a relationship defined by higher levels of practical cooperation and greater levels of trust, while managing whatever differences and disagreements might arise between us."
Meeting earlier with State Councilor Yang Jiechi, China's State Councilor, Donilon said the summit is a chance for the two presidents to work through problems.
The meeting will be an important opportunity for our presidents to have in-depth discussions about U.S.-China relations, and a wide range of global and regional challenges facing both our countries," Donilon said.
The summit is seen by Chinese and U.S. experts as positive.
Good will aside, mutual trust should be cultivated in Sino-US relations, as the U.S. feels its world leadership challenged and China, its strength growing, demands a larger say over global issues. It is already a cliché saying that Washington is thwarting China's rise, strengthening alliances in Asia to hem in China and discouraging Chinese investment in the U.S. on grounds of the so-called "national security."
On Sunday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang reiterated China's stance, while travelling to Potsdam, where allied powers declared the terms for Japan's surrender 68 years ago in the waning days of World War II. Li told reporters there Japan must not "deny or glorify the history of fascist aggression."
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also echoed the statement on Monday saying Japan should review what is recounted in the Cairo declaration and the Potsdam proclamation, documents to set goals for the post-war order.
