US expert: Relations with China 'on good track'

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-10 22:07

LOS ANGELES -- US-China relations are in good condition and do not need to be fundamentally changed by the Obama administration, an American expert on China said Monday.

"US-China relations are on a good track," Thomas J. Christensen, a professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University, said during a speech at Claremont College.

Christensen, who was deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs with responsibilities for relations with China from 2006-08, said American policy toward China was handled well by the Bush administration and that the basic approach toward China in the last few years should be maintained.

Christensen, also director of the Princeton-Harvard China and the World Program, said President Barack Obama "is a smart man" who has many experienced diplomats and advisors to assist him in diplomacy.

Christensen said he hoped that US-China relations would be developed in a healthy direction.

The United States, the professor said, is not trying to contain the growth of China's influence around the world. American and Chinese power is not a zero-sum game, Christensen said, and China's influence does not necessarily come at America's expense.

"The purpose of our engagement with China is not to deprive China of influence but to try to move China's influence in a constructive direction," he said.

It is important for the United States, Christensen said, to maintain a strong presence in East Asia as well as to hold diplomatic dialogues with China.

He said that in the past several years there have been major innovation in the US-China relationship.