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Why US and China are struggling to reach a consensus over future shape of relationship

China and the United States may have agreed to establish a “constructive” relationship characterised by “strategic stability” but deep-seated differences have left the future shape…

By Samantha Johnson / July 5, 2026

China and the United States may have agreed to establish a “constructive” relationship characterised by “strategic stability” but deep-seated differences have left the future shape of the relationship looking uncertain, a forum in Beijing heard on Saturday.

Looking ahead to President Xi Jinping’s possible US visit later this year, Sun Yun, director of the China programme at US think tank the Stimson Centre, said such trips typically required a list of deliverables, “but to my knowledge, both the two sides have not reached any consensus on what that deliverable package will look like”.

Sun told the World Peace Forum held by Tsinghua University: “The two leaders have reached the consensus to establish a constructive relationship of strategic stability, but both sides do not have a shared consensus as for what exactly it means.”

She also highlighted a fundamental difference in priorities, with Beijing focusing on the constructive aspects such as cooperation while Washington was more concerned about how to manage disputes.

For the US, the most important issue was to establish regular communication channels between their militaries, she added.

Sun said there was an urgent need to improve operational-level communication channels – especially one between the US Pacific Command and its Chinese counterparts – to ensure a swift response to any crisis in flashpoints such as the South China Sea or Taiwan Strait.

Sun also cited the stalled plans for US defence undersecretary Elbridge Colby to visit China this year as further evidence of clogged communication channels.

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