The United States should try to improve relations with China under the new security environment following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and that will require "careful and realistic diplomatic management on many fronts," an American expert on East Asia told a recent symposium in Tokyo.
Bates Gill, senior fellow in foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution, said fundamental differences between Washington and Beijing may temporarily be shelved in the fight against terrorism, but they will resurface in the long run.
"But that does not mean we should give up hope," Gill told the Brookings Institution-Keizai Koho Center Regional Forum held Oct. 10. "We should do all we can" to stabilize bilateral ties.