Wang Huiyao: Olympic spirit can help foster Sino-US ties

China Daily | August 13 , 2024

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By Wang Huiyao | Founder of the Center for China and Globalization(CCG)

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The just-concluded Paris Olympic Games was milestone for China, as the country not only won 40 gold medals, tying with the United States for top gold medal winner, but also celebrated its best ever performance at an Olympics overseas, showcasing its emergence as a global sports powerhouse.

This achievement marks a historical journey for China, from the moment in 1908 when it first expressed the wish to host its own Olympics to successfully hosting the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics and then the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, becoming the world’s first “dual Olympic city”.

The breakthroughs China has achieved in different sports disciplines, including in tennis and cycling, mirrors the country’s rise in economic, technological and social domains, which the West has often viewed as a challenge to the existing world order, particularly affecting China-US relations. However, emphasizing that its rise is peaceful in nature, China has remained committed to maintaining a fairer and just world order.

Sino-US relations are the important critical bilateral relationship in the world today, influencing global politics, economics and security. In the 45 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, the two countries’ relationship has weathered many storms only to move forward.

On Jan 1 this year, Chinese and US presidents exchanged congratulatory messages on the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-US diplomatic ties. In the first seven months of this year, the total Sino-US trade volume reached 2.72 trillion yuan, marking a 4.1 percent increase. Among this, exports to the United States amounted to 2.04 trillion yuan, up by 5.1 percent.

As two of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and nuclear powers, China and the US play key roles in maintaining global stability and promoting development. Yet bilateral relations face a series of challenges, including trade tensions, technological rivalry and geopolitical disputes. The trade war initiated by the US in 2018 and characterized by punitive tariffs on Chinese goods not only harmed the two economies but also sent ripples across the global trade system. And the high-tech competition between the two sides further intensified with the US imposing sanctions on Chinese technology firms in a bid to curb China’s advancement in high-tech.

Besides, geopolitical issues including the South China Sea disputes — and the Taiwan question, which is China’s internal matter — made the already fragile Sino-US ties more complex.

Amid all this, the Olympic Games offered valuable lessons for both China and the US. Sino-US ties should mirror the ethos of the Olympics, which embodies the spirit of friendly competition. The competition between the countries, no matter in which field, should be like any competition in the Olympics — to seek mutual accomplishment under the motto “Higher, Faster, Stronger — Together”. This spirit of striving for excellence while supporting each other in the process is crucial for advancing human progress.

The addition of “Together” to the Olympic motto in 2021 emphasizes the importance of solidarity, cooperation and friendship among countries, a vision that resonates with China’s proposal to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

China has long championed the principle of “Friendship First, Competition Second”, a guiding tenet that has roots in the “ping-pong diplomacy” of 1971 which helped thaw Sino-US relations, as the two sides’ table tennis teams engaged in friendly matches that eventually led to a historic breakthrough in bilateral ties. After the breakthrough, the two countries began breaking down the barriers that had kept them apart for more than two decades. The ping-pong diplomacy shows that even the most entrenched divisions can be narrowed through sportsmanship and mutual respect.

The concept of cooperation is deeply embedded in the Olympic spirit. The Olympic rings, representing the five continents, symbolize unity and the collective effort of all countries to work together to achieve common goals.

The Olympics also underscore the importance of fair competition, a principle that Chinese delegation has highlighted by advocating for “gold medals of morality, style and integrity”, which reflects China’s commitment to fair play and commitment to maintain global peace and uphold global values, drawing international praise.

Olympic competitions are not zero-sum games; they are mutually beneficial and fulfilling events. During the ancient Olympic Games, people from different city-states in ancient Greece achieved mutual benefit and shared prosperity through friendly competition, cultural exchanges and trade. From its inception, the Olympic Games have promoted the values of mutual benefit and shared prosperity, extending beyond the realm of sports into the broader context of international relations.

Graham Allison, who made the concept of “Thucydides trap” popular, recently suggested that positive competition, as represented by the Olympic spirit, should dominate international relations. Indeed, the Olympic spirit, with its emphasis on friendly competition, cooperation and fairness, offers a powerful metaphor for the future of China-US relations.

As the two sides navigate the complexities of their relationship, they would do better to draw inspiration from the Olympic ideals. By embracing this spirit, they can move beyond the challenges that have strained their relations in recent years and work together to build a future where competition is constructive and cooperation valued, and the two sides contribute to the progress of humanity.

From China Daily, 2024-8-13