“The dynamic that emerges between the United States and China will affect not just our peoples, but . . . have a significant impact on the entire world, ”U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said at the fifth round of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue held recently in Washington, D.C.“Our relationship is and will continue to be . . . a mix of competition and cooperation,” Vice President Biden said.“Competition can be good . . . and cooperation is essential . . . If the game is fair and healthy, political and economic competition can . . . marshal the best energies of both our societies.This mix places an added burden on both of us . . . We will have our disagreements . . . But if we are straightforward, clear, and predictable with one another, we can find solutions.”“I believe that history offers both the United States and China some lessons,” Vice President Biden continued.“History shows that prosperity is greatest when governments allow not just the free exchange of goods but the free exchange of ideas . . .in the long run, greater openness, transparency, respect for universal rights, actually is a source of national and international stability.”“It’s understandable that China wants to be involved in international rules-setting . . . but is wary about taking on additional international burdens,” Vice President Biden pointed out.“The two go hand in hand, because in 2013, the world’s environment and rule-based economic order cannot sustain an exception the size of China.”
