The U.S.-China Mutual Trust Committee 互信組 set out to uncover some of the possible root causes of the dauntingly complex relationship between the United States and China. We have found: 

• Historically, there has been a fundamental difference between the way Europeans and Americans view the outside world and the way the Chinese view the outside world. Inspired by the legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery, European-Americans fulfilled what they saw as their Manifest Destiny and expanded westward to the Pacific Ocean and beyond. In contrast, China, since the founding of the Han Dynasty in 211 BC, accepted tributes from its neighboring countries, and in return granted them secure borders, trade, and autonomy in their land. Since its unification in 206 BC, China has never colonized another country or foreign territory.

• For two thousand years, China was the largest economy in the world.  However, China’s economy fell behind as European and American economic growth was spurred on by the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s. It was not until 1976 that China began to industrialize. Now, fifty years later it is the world’s second-largest economy and, by some estimates, could surpass the U.S. in 2030 to become, once again, the largest economy in the world. While there is evidence that China’s intentions are benign, some American leaders perceive China’s continued growth as a threat. Even while recent meetings between high-level American and Chinese officials indicate a positive shift, many American policymakers continue to view competition with China as a zero-sum game. They perceive every gain by China as a loss for America. 

• Since China began its Belt & Road Initiative in 2013, it has signed the Samarkand Declaration with countries representing two-thirds of the world’s population. In addition to opening its market to all signers, China also recognizes that every nation has the right to self-determination. In 2023 the U.S. launched its own Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity and received the support of several prominent countries such as India and Indonesia. However, unlike the Chinese Samarkand Declaration, this Framework does not offer its partners access to the U.S. market.  

These historical differences between the two countries make peaceful US-China collaboration challenging, and the lack of mutual trust in each other’s words and actions further hampers potential collaborations. Our Committee is taking the first small steps towards building mutual trust, on a people-to-people level, between our two great countries, beginning right here in the Midwest. Many of our local cultural and community organizations already have made promoting mutual understanding and courtesy between the U.S. and China an integral part of their mission. We urge you now to add building mutual trust to your mission and together we will build a brimming well of mutual trust between our peoples.