Communication can steady rocky China-US relations

The Thucydides trap is the ever-present elephant in the room when it comes to relations between China and the United States. Whether the established power and the rising power can successfully avoid conflict as the established order necessarily adjusts to accommodate China's rise is a question of concern to all.

That question has become even more prominent with the change of administration in the US, especially when Donald Trump seemed set on destroying the foundations of bilateral ties before he even entered the White House.

Although he assured President Xi Jinping that that was not his intention in what seemed a long-delayed phone call, it is hard to escape the impression the relationship is still being tested by the frictions of growing uncertainties in sensitive issues ranging from the deployment of the US' anti-missile defense system in the Republic of Korea, to Washington's penchant for sending warships on patrols in the South China Sea and its continuous efforts to enhance its military alliances in the Asia-Pacific.